First Listen Friday: Panther, Hills Like White Elephants

I don't know about you, but I'm really enjoying our First Listen Friday feature. I think its fun to see what the staff is listening to each week, hopefully you do too. After the jump, listen to some new-ish music from Panther, which Jenna selected, and Hills Like White Elephants, which I'm currently adoring.



Panther - "These Two Trees," "Take Yr Cane"
The last time I wrote about Panther I called them my, "guilty pleasure." I've decided to upgrade...now they are simply my pleasure. I never truly felt guilty for listening to them. In fact, I felt as if I might have been given a glimpse into the future of something grand. With their February 19th release of 14 Kt God and the upcoming assortment of tour dates they are likely to grab a few nods from today's most respected critics (i.e. the RangeLife staff). Tour dates include but are not limited to Oklahoma City (3/11/) and Minneapolis (3/28). -JAMM

Hills Like White Elephants - "Heart Like an Airport" [mp3]
I was perusing the internets for some 2008 albums that I may have missed and somehow stumbled upon Hills Like White Elephants. Certainly my attention was initially caught by the bands name - I'm a fan of Hemingway like most burgeoning alcoholics - even more striking, immediately even, was the band's music, which is a healthy mix of Broken Social Scene, Deerhunter, Yo La Tengo, and maybe even some Sonic Youth, early Blonde Redhead, well, you get the idea. A beautifully noisy guitar based band, but one that often fleshes their sound out with lush strings (hence the BSS comparison). Original, no. Worth a listen, yes! Especially when you consider that you can download the album on a donation basis, like In Rainbows (and like In Rainbows, I'm pretty sure free is also an option), from the band's label. But hey, if free isn't convincing enough to give 'er a shot, check out "Heart Like an Airport," I think you'll dig it.