" Holy Roller " was the first song that Thao Nguyen wrote for We The Common , her new album as Thao & The Get Down Stay Down. The jittery indie-folk tune was also the first song we heard from the album, and now it's the first one to get a video. In director Mimi Cave 's clip, Nguyen and a few friends lip-sync the song dramatically, and then special effects come in and mash up their faces in increasingly disturbing ways. Watch it below. Read More...

In case the overwhelming lack of lounging around time hasn't tipped you off, festival season is upon us, in a big way. And last week, our former festival-that-could known as Austin City Limits revealed it's now two-week spanning lineup, full of up-and-comers and big-namers to boot. (Did I meet my dash quota in that sentence – I'm not sure). This year's lineup, while polarizing to many, boasts some of my favorites, from some Columbia grads who made it big (Vampire Weekend), to a fiery-haired musical heroine (Neko Case), to the band that shaped my college years (Wilco), to [...]

CoSigned singer-songwriter Aly Spaltro, aka Lady Lamb the Beekeeper , has announced an extensive U.S. tour behind her Top Star-earning debut Ripely Pine . Later this week, she'll embark on her first-ever headlining tour, before sharing the stage with Torres and Thao & The Get Down Stay Down later in the summer. All of the dates are listed out below, followed by her video for "The Nothing Part II". Lady Lamb the Beekeeper 2013 Tour Dates: 05/09 - Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall [...]

This is the longest goodbye // Follow Owl and Bear on Facebook and Twitter for contests, MP3s, and links that don't make it onto the blog.

Damn, 2013, you are looking good! You just keep hitting us week after week with one killer list of new releases after another. This week, there's no way we're not going to run out to pick up the latest from long-time KEXP favorite Frightened Rabbit . As if there was any doubt that this would land high on KEXP's regular rotation, our Music Director, Don Yates, commended it for being "another emotionally stirring set of anthemic folk-pop, with a huge, densely produced sound combining reverberating guitars and urgent rhythms with Scott Hutchinson’s impassioned vocals and dark, brutally honest lyrics." [...]

San Francisco folk-rocker Thao Nguyen and her band The Get Down Stay Down have a sparkly new album by the name of We the Common , out February 5th. We've already heard some early tracks, " We the Common (for Valerie Bolden) " and " Holy Roller ," but the latest to surface is a much-anticipated collaboration with freak-folk wunderkind Joanna Newsom (who also dwelled in the Bay Area for a time, little-known tidbit). The clip-clop acoustic tune, "Kindness be Conceived," is simplistic, lighthearted, and gorgeously harmonized (the combination of their voices is almost Feist-esque). The track seems to [...]
We The Common is the latest album of wound-up, experimentally minded indie-pop that Portland's Thao Nguyen has recorded under the name Thao & The Get Down Stay Down. Indie production veteran John Congleton helmed the album, and we've already posted “ Holy Roller ,” “ We The Common (For Valerie Bolden) ,” and the Joanna Newsom duet " Kindness Be Conceived ." Now you can stream the whole album; it's below. Read More...

The top mp3s have gone through many incarnations since the beginning of Consequence of Sound in 2007. What used to be an exhaustive roundup of all the singles, remixes, covers, and undiscovered gems emailed to us any given week evolved into a compilation whittled down to our 10 favorite new songs. For 2013, we’re again changing up the format with the hope of giving our selections some added weight. We’re still posting about our 10 favorite songs, but they’ll be ordered in quality from 10-1. Who takes home #1 this week? You’ll have to click ‘Next’ to find out. [...]

Portland indie pop outfit Thao & The Get Down Stay Down team up with singer-songwriter/ill harpist Joanna Newsom on the charming, folk-leaning "Kindness Conceived". The duet, which is off the band's forthcoming We The Common LP, features a stripped-down coziness alongside the warm intertwined harmonies of both Newsom and frontwoman Thao Nguyen. Tune in below. We The Common comes out on February 5th via Ribbon Music. Stream its semi-title track "We The Common (For Valerie Bolden)" here .
Thao Nguyen will release We The Common , her newest album of fractured indie-pop under her Thao & The Get Down Stay Down name, in a couple of months. She's already shared early tracks " Holy Roller " and " We The Common (For Valerie Bolden) ," but the album track that most of us were most amped to hear was always going to be "Kindness Be Conceived," her collaboration with Joanna Newsom. As it turns out, the song is a sunny and stripped-back folk duet, with Nguyen and Newsom harmonizing simple melodies beautifully. Hear it below. [...]

Thao & The Get Down Stay Down have always mixed catchy vocals with ever-changing backing music, but I never thought they would fully embrace folk rock. That's exactly what they do on "We the Common (For Valerie Bolden)." The song starts with a deep south, front porch banjo strum that mixes with Thao's always infectious vocals. Everything snaps into place when a synth starts creeping in and out while the drums guide the pace with that banjo continuing softly behind it all. The chorus blazes in with Thao humming -- it's immediately infectious. [...]

On "We The Common (For Valerie Bolden)," Portland folk-pop group Thao & The Get Down Stay Down combine twangy pickings and honeyed melodies for a tune that bursts with a bouncy and anthemic chorus, while still hinting at back porch rootsy-ness. According to a press release, it was inspired by frontwoman Thao Nguyen's volunteer work with the California Coalition for Women Prisoners . The tune is the quasi-title track to the group's fifth album, We The Common , due out February 5th via Ribbon Music. If you missed it, stream the lead single "Holy [...]
Next month, Portland indie-pop experimenter Thao Nguyen, who records as Thao & The Get Down Stay Down, will release her now album We The Common . We haven't heard its Joanna Newsom collab yet, but we have heard the early track " Holy Roller ." And now we've got the kinda-title track, which has an anthemic chorus and some of the least-rootsy banjo work I've ever heard. Listen to it below. Read More...

Pavla Kopecna In mentioning yesterday that winning the Mercury Prize allowed Alt-J to graduate from playing Wrongbar in September to playing The Phoenix in March, we can also scientifically see what only getting nominated to the shortlist gets you. Django Django , who were shortlisted on the strength of their self-titled debut , also played Wrongbar in late September and have also just scheduled a Spring tour that brings them back to town in March - March 12, specifically, and at The Opera House. So based on the capacities of [...]

Hands on a Hardbody at the Brooks Atkinson Theater The new Trey Anastasio scored Broadway musical, Hands on a Hardbody , will begin preview performances on Feb. 23 at the Brooks Atkinson Theater in advance of a Mar. 21 opening. Tickets for the first block of performances are on Amex presale now, presale ends 12/16/12 at 11:59 PM ET. Based on a 1997 documentary by S.R. Bindler and Kevin Morris, the musical has [...]

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Recording as Thao & The Get Down Stay Down, Pacific Northwesterner Thao Nguyen has spent an entire career at the intersection between indie-folk and experimental psychedelic weirdness, and now she's got another album coming soon. Early next year, Nguyen will release the new LP We The Common , recorded with indie production O.G. John Congleton. Joanna Newsom shows up to duet with Nguyen on the song "Kindness Be Conceived." Below, hear the first single, the sparkling "Holy Roller," and check out the album's tracklist. Read More...

AIDS charity Red Hot, in association with Pitchfork , has announced another release in its line of star-studded charity compilations , this time honoring late New York composer Arthur Russell (who died due to complications from AIDS in 1992). This Is How We Walk on the Moon will feature contributions from Robyn, Cut Copy, Hot Chip, Dan Boeckner, Scissor Sisters, Devendra Banhart, Okkervil River's Will Sheff, Nico Muhly, Owen Pallett, Twin Shadow, Washed Out, Laurel Halo, Javelin, Sam Amidon, Ólöf Arnalds, José González, Sandro Perri, Thao with the Get Down Stay Down, and much, [...]

Indoors and outdoors, your Saturday: ► Buzzing 21-year-old rapper Azealia Banks brings her "Mermaid Ball" to the Fonda Theatre. ► L.A. quartet Saint Motel celebrates the release of its debut full-length "Voyeur" at the El Rey Theatre, supported by Princeton and Chasing Kings . ► Moby does an acoustic set and then DJs in the outdoor park next to the Annenberg Space for Photography as part of the celebration for the exhibition "Who Shot Rock & Roll: A Photographic History, 1955 to the Present." Lots [...]
Incoming: Family of the Year, Of Verona, P.O.D., Eleni Mandell, Oak & Gorski, Sea Wolf, Mustard Pimp, Andy Clockwise, Marina & the Diamonds, Robert DeLong, the Bouncing Souls, X, Thao With the Get Down Stay Down, Sonny & the Sunsets, Aesop Rock, Azealia Banks and more. Above: Azealia Banks' video for "Liquorice." The 21-year-old, with a mixtape coming out this week and a full-length due in the fall, is headlining the "Mermaid Ball" on Friday at the Fonda. Our staff picks of the week: [...]