Artist: The Buzz

The long weekend is here, and so are a new song and video from one of our absolute favorites - Kishi Bashi ! Both the new song, "Song for the Sold", and the video are brilliant, of course, with his usual multi-layered magic and art animation brimming with story and color. There's a familiar Kishi Bashi theme present here in which he celebrates the vibrancy of hope despite the presence of despair. "Song for the Sold" is both gorgeously cinematic and casually epic, qualities we've realized are innate to a Kishi Bashi [...]

They’ve done it again! Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros have released the first track of their forthcoming, self-titled album, and, as usual, they've crafted their perfect, signature blend of bursting, exuberant hope and easy playfulness. The themes of positive attitudes and silver linings don’t appear by accident - Alex Ebert has made it clear that the group’s artistic intention is to bring life and love to what they sing about: for their craft, for their fans, and for each other. As he stated in an interview once: “The goal is to [...]

• Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros - Better Days

Toronto's retro-pop threesome, Bravestation , have just released the second single from their EP IV entitled "Somewhere We Belong". Although the song isn’t a blow away hit, it’s packed with easy listening, reggae-vibing goodness. The track is also laced with addictive tropical beats, funky synths and an R&B focused groove - ready yourself for some full volume listening. The two brothers and friend who make up this band have a lot going for them. You should perhaps start following them before everyone else does!

Brendan Byrne makes and sells synthesizers on Etsy. Or at least, he did , until Etsy decided he wasn’t building them himself and shut down his store. [read more at Daily Dots ]

Much like their transformation of the word "churches", Scottish electro pop band CHVRCHES has been presenting their own rendition of popular songs. Lauren Mayberry’s cover of Rage Against the Machine's “Killing In The Name Of” is a complete transformation, an impressive feat considering the chorus “now you do what they told ya” is recognizable by nearly everyone born before the millennium. Mayberry takes the anger-ridden song and makes it contemplative - rage becomes a dreamy ode to rebelliousness. A layer of harmonies replaces chanting, a melodic acoustic [...]

• Thoseforgottensecrets - Killing In The Name Of (RATM Cover by Blue Sky Archives - Lauren CHVRCHES

If you aren't already, it's time to follow The Mountain Goats' John Darnielle on Tumblr — his blog is as witty and entertaining as one might expect, and he updates it fairly frequently. In particular, it was interesting to see him recently post a photo of a very young version of himself at a Nick Cave show. It turns out he's quite the Cave fan, and that seeing The Bad Seeds play on the tour in question was quite the formative experience on both Darnielle himself and on [...]

On April 20th, music lovers around the world all frolicked to our favorite vinyl and CD shops in honor of National Record Store day, celebrating all aspects of the music industry. On that same day, Frightened Rabbit’s Scott Hutchinson and Manchester Orchestra’s Andy Hull gave us one more reason to celebrate with their collaborative single, “Architect”. The track strays from the traditional sound of both groups, opting for just acoustic guitar and vocals instead of the indie rock wall-of-sound produced by the full bands. The [...]

• "Architect" - Frightened Rabbit & Manchester Orchestra

Still hungry for more danceable vocoder galore (kids these days) but looking for something else than mega-hyped, impeccably arranged and Saint Laurent Paris-clad choons courtesy of French bots and their famous old friends? Then you should definitely check out After Dark 2, the much-awaited sequel to the legendary After Dark compilation put together in 2007 by American producer Johnny [...]

For the first time, Bob Marley and The Wailers’ iconic 1984 album, Legend , is re-imagined for LEGEND: REMIXED . Fifteen of Legend's 16 tracks have been remixed by top DJs/producers including Stephen Marley, RAC, Nickodemus, among others, as well as a new rendition of Redemption Song by Ziggy Marley. The album’s executive producer is DJ/producer Jason Bentley. The first single, Three Little Birds , was remixed by Stephen Marley and Jason Bentley and is available now on iTunes

As plenty of commentators (including Flavorwire ) have pointed out, Daft Punk's sudden rise into the commercial stratosphere coincided with the adoption of their now-iconic robot personas. Their journey from being middle-ranking producers with a flair for the crossover market to globe-conquering fauxbotic superstars started the minute they decided to grab a pair of converted motorcycle helmets and pretend to be androids. Why is it, though, that the US market seems to need its electronic music to be made by people with such strong visual identities? Why do we need our producers to have gimmicks and wear masks?

Portland duo, Pure Bathing Culture , who had one of our favorite EPs of 2012 (and my favorite video ), announced that their frothy brand of effervescent, 802s pop and knack for melody will be back soon on their  debut full-length, Moon Tides . Thought the album is set for release on August 20, the band has given us a sampling with the lovely new single, "Pendulum".  Sarah Versprille's enchanting vocals bedded on dreamy synths and Daniel Hindman's gleaming guitars make for a warm, euphoric, pretty much perfect pop song. August 20 can't come soon [...]

• Pure Bathing Culture - Pendulum

The new video for CSS’s single “Hangover” off their upcoming album Planta features painfully awkward office dancing, staying true to the band’s offbeat style. The coordinated marching in place could be taken as a symbol of communication in the work place, but we probably shouldn't read into it. The new album drops on June 11th, [...]

Like pretty much everyone else in the music world, Flavorwire was saddened to hear of the death of Doors keyboard player and co-founder Ray Manzarek yesterday. Manzarek was one of music's great versatile talents — his keyboard work on The Doors' recordings is rightly lauded, especially as the band's lack of a bassist meant he was often covering bass parts and melody lines simultaneously, but it's hardly the sum of his career. In the four decades since Jim Morrison's death, Manzarek was involved with a fascinating variety of projects; in tribute to him, here is some of his most notable [...]

Photo by Charlotte Zoller Fans of The National , rejoice.  While you might already have tickets to see the band play the massive Barclay's Center in Brooklyn, you might also get to see them play to a far smaller crowd at Manhattan's Mercury Lounge.  Play your cards right, and refresh your Ticketmaster page the perfect amount of times, and you'll be in the front row for an extremely intimate time with Matt Berninger and company.  Buy your tickets here .

It’s no secret that Palma Violets' “Best of Friends” is in the running for being the song of the summer. With that killer guitar riff and the catchiest chorus this side of a top 40 song, there's no way this tune won't be a sleeper hit. Now, with the premier of the track's video, you can not only listen to “Best of Friends” over and over and over again, but you can revel in the adorableness of the band. Watch the boys run around causing mischief and play a show to a generally unenthused [...]

Having fun is a holy activity, don’t settle for the fake stuff. A lot of people, especially those just a little too affected by the ebb and flow of a given scene, never really have fun. They pretend to have fun. These people think fun is about being at the coolest event with the coolest [...]

Tuesday is the new Monday . Let's kick it!

Once in a while we like to give our readers a virtual bear hug in the form of free concert tickets and signed merch from bands we've featured over the years.  This time around, we're working with DFA Records artist YACHT and giving one lucky reader a signed record plus two tickets to see them play all ages Brooklyn venue Shea Stadium.  All you need to do is subscribe to our YouTube channel and comment on this post.  Seriously, that's it. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE [...]

We fell in love with Wilsen's understated, electronic folk last year when they released mini-album, Sirens . Fresh off their tour supporting  Daughter  for the first half of their US dates, Wilsen is releasing "Dusk", their second single from  Sirens, on June 10.  The b-side is this so-beautiful-it-hurts cover of Grimes' "Oblivion". Keeping with their subdued, dreamy sound, this version doesn't have a "drop", only ghostly, graceful delicacy. It's absolutely gorgeous and absolutely going to make your Monday.

• Wilsen - "Oblivion" (Grimes cover)

No one buys albums anymore, goes the music industry truism. And yet, for all that the format's commercial viability may or may not be on the wane, sitting and listening to a great album from start to finish is one of the greatest pleasures that music can bring. Flavorwire recently got to thinking about how one might build a record collection if you really only did buy one record a year.  So here's the result of our thought exercise: 50 albums you really should own, one a year from 1963 until the present day. Yes, of course this mean things [...]