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26 posts tagged Death Cab For Cutie
Video: Frightened Rabbit Cover Death Cab for Cutie
As a show of gratitude to Frightened Rabbit fans and tourmates Death Cab for Cutie for supporting Invisible Children, a charity organization that works toward bringing peace to Northern Uganda, FR frontman Scott Hutchison has shared a touching cover of his favorite Death Cab tune: 2005 Plans cut “Different Names for the Same Thing.”
“I almost tried to ‘countrify’ the song, as it has such a strong beautiful melody,” he said. “It’s a very simple song at its core, so I just stuck with that basic structure and let it be plaintive and sad.” Watch Hutchison’s riverside performance above.
Death Cab for Cutie revisited a number of older songs — in addition to a few cuts off their forthcoming LP, Codes and Keys — for the latest episode of VH1’s Storytellers tonight. “Forgive me if I kind of stumble through explaining what these songs are about,” said Ben Gibbard before describing the writing process behind opening cut, Narrow Stairs single “Cath…,” “because there are times where I’m actually trying to still figure out for myself who is in these songs and who these people are.” If you missed the show, VH1 has shared the full show online, including a few story-less performance clips exclusively for the web. You can check out the bonus footage here and the aired broadcast, with each segment of the 9-song set, below:
Death Cab for Cutie Perform “Title Track” on ‘Fallon’
In addition to a performance of their new single, “You Are a Tourist,” that aired on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon last night, Death Cab looked back a decade for a web exclusive take on “Title Track,” the opening cut off their 2000 sophomore LP, We Have the Facts and We’re Voting Yes. Enjoy Ben Gibbard and friends getting a bit nostalgic above.
Death Cab for Cutie - “Home Is a Fire” (Official Video)
Famed illustrator/street artist Shepard Fairey teamed up with Death Cab for Cutie bassist Nick Harmer to direct the band’s latest official video off their forthcoming LP, Codes and Keys. “Nick sent me the lyrics… and they evoked the duality of ‘home’ both as a place you inhabit, and also as a place that inhabits or traps you,” Fairey said in an explanation of the video’s concept at Boing Boing. “One’s relationship with home might be complicated, but ultimately it can be a two-way dialogue, of which we can at least affect one-way.”
As this video seeks to demonstrate, street art can be used to react against — and interact with — the city as an “impersonal, imposing, simultaneously anonymous and claustrophobic” place. Fairey adds, “I would say that a street art call to action is ‘if you don’t like your home… reshape it.’”
Death Cab for Cutie - “Some Boys”
Our third official taste (following single/video “You Are A Tourist” and opening track “Home Is A Fire”) of Death Cab’s forthcoming LP, Codes and Keys, arrived this morning via Atlantic Records: “Some Boys,” a 3-minute, pulsing heartbeat/kickdrum-backed prime piece of ambient indie-rock. “Some boys are singing, some boys are singing the blues,” Ben Gibbard declares before calling out a few Blues Hammer types: “joylessly flinging with the girls that their bringing to their rooms, and then leave when they’re through.” (One wonders if this tune was inspired at all by the Rolling Stones’ “Some Girls.”) Above, you can stream the promising cut.
Death Cab’s “You Are a Tourist” Video
In which the first live, scripted, one-take, music video shoot ever actually became an excellent visual treatment to the first single off Death Cab for Cutie’s first Codes and Keys single, “You Are a Tourist.” Between the choreography, light-up suits, and laudable direction by Tim Nackashi, DCfC turned the moment into a rewarding clip upon multiple viewings.
(Award for Best Bass-Sync-Strut in recent memory goes to Nick Harmer at 0:47.)
Ben Gibbard’s ‘Arthur’ Song - “When the Sun Goes Down” (Studio Version)
Back in March, we heard Ben Gibbard preview a few new tunes live in San Francisco, including the new Death Cab for Cutie title track, “Codes and Keys,” and “When the Sun Goes Down,” an original song he wrote for the forthcoming Russell Brand-starring Arthur remake. Now you can hear an official stream of the studio version — complete with a subdued, shuffling rhythm section, breezy acoustic guitar strumming, and a reverb-drenched solo that likely soundtracks one of the less comedic moments of the rom-com — above (via SKoA, via WB’s Water Tower Music).
We’ve heard a Ben Gibbard solo version of the title track off Death Cab for Cutie’s 7th studio LP, Codes and Keys (alongside a Buck Owens cover, duet with Bob Mould, and Arthur theme song), but 10 tracks remain a mystery, including forthcoming single “You Are a Tourist.” Now the pound sign and/or hashtag-donning album art is here to pique your interest further, as well as the intriguing tracklist, which includes opening cut “Home Is a Fire” and the fun-sounding farewell tune “Stay Young, Go Dancing.”
Preview the album art above, full tracklist below, and revisit Gibbard’s piano rendition of “Codes and Keys” after the jump.
We’ve been waiting for a recording from Ben Gibbard’s Sunday show at San Francisco’s Noise Pop Festival to surface — as the Death Cab for Cutie frontman unveiled solo versions of a couple songs off their forthcoming album — and now the Codes and Keys sneak preview has arrived… FYDCFC (via CoS) pointed to two surprisingly great-sounding bootlegged recordings from the show of Gibbard playing the title track on piano and new solo song “When The Sun Goes Down On Your Street” backed by acoustic guitar. Per recent interviews with the band, these stripped-down live versions are likely not similar to the synth-heavy studio takes. The album isn’t due until May 31, though, so in the meantime, you can hear “Codes and Keys” here, the latter tune here, or both streaming below.
*Update: Gibbard clarified that “When The Sun Goes Down On Your Street” is actually a solo song he wrote for the forthcoming Russell Brand-starring film Arthur. Only the first tune below is off the new Death Cab LP.
The likes of David Bowie, Kanye West, Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, Elvis Costello, and Tom Waits have all graced the stage of VH1’s live performance/monologue series over the years, and now the latest class of Storytellers have been announced: Death Cab for Cutie, Cee-Lo Green, Kings of Leon, Maxwell, My Morning Jacket, and Ray LaMontagne.
Update: Watch Death Cab’s episode here.