Blog: Some Kind of Awesome

If Yeah Yeah Yeahs ' goal this morning was to unsettle those fearful of bugs, they sure as hell succeeded. Their new video for "Mosquito," the title track from their latest album, focuses solely on the hand of an unfortunate mosquito victim, and as blood is drawn from this unaware young boy the mosquito grows with vibrant psychedelic colors. That kid sure has something special in his blood. Check out the clip below. Yeah Yeah Yeahs' fourth album Mosquito is out now. Stream it here .

Vampire Weekend 's third album Modern Vampires of the City arrives in exactly one week, but the New York quartet are feeling kind today. Ezra Koenig, Rostam Batmanglij, Chris Tomson and Chris Baio are streaming their newest work in its entirety, giving you a chance to decide for yourself whether or not it's worth purchasing. Head over to iTunes and let us know what you think. Modern Vampires of the City Tracklist: 01. Obvious Bicycle 02. Unbelievers 03. Step 04. Diane Young [...]

Given the fact a year ago nobody knew who The 1975 were I think they've done damn well to get where they are now. They've announced a string of ever bigger shows and have already released an impressive array of EP's ( Sex , Facedown , Music For Cars ), and later this year will drop their first full length. Today, ahead of their new EP IV 's launch, Hunger TV have got the exclusive stream of "Haunt // Bed" which follows up the impressive new version of "The City" let loose last [...]

• The 1975 - Haunt // Bed

Justin Timberlake 's The 20/20 Experience , his first album in six years, is the result of a lot of hard work, but the recording sessions left Timberlake with more than one album worth of material. It's been rumored that he would be releasing a follow-up to his newest LP this fall, and now it's been confirmed. Taking to his Facebook page Timberlake posted the photo above, and it looks like we can expect The 20/20 Experience Pt. 2 on September 30th. This summer, Timberlake will team up with Jay-Z [...]

Disclosure pay homage to their UK garage forebears Artful Dodger, whose electronic dance beats inspired the London brother duo. Taking Artful Dodger's 2000 single " Please Don't Turn Me On " the pair have given it a crisp sheen, turning the soulful track into a pulsating dancefloor hit. On top of that, they've brought in London singer Zoe Kypri to add her vocals, providing a perfect complement to the lyrics of the original. Check out the remix, titled "No I Turn You On," below. Disclosure's debut album Settle drops on June [...]

• Public Demand Promo - Artful Dodger Feat Zoe Kypri - No I Turn You On (Disclosure Remix)

Vampire Weekend have let loose the studio version of "Ya Hey," one of six new tracks they've been showing off live . The song is five minutes of blissful indie joy, traipsing along with quirky lyrics and vibrant instrumentation. It's also accompanied by a lyric video, which finds a slew of New Yorkers popping champagne in celebration of something. Check it out below. Modern Vampires of the City is out on May 14th.

If you had to guess one of Tame Impala 's "favorite songs ever" what would it be? I bet you wouldn't have guessed that it's Outkast 's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below cut "Prototype." Visiting Triple J studios, the Australian outfit chose to cover that song for the radio station's ongoing "Like A Version" segment. The band turns the mellow funk-laden jam into a reverbed psychedelic number, and it's actually really good. Check it out below.

Porcelain Raft , the moniker of Mauro Remiddi, impressed with his debut album Strange Weekend , released in January of last year. He's since moved away from what he established on his debut, to record something completely different. Remiddi sold all of his equipment and used that money to buy a modular synth, which he has spent countless hours obsessively experimenting with. The result of these experiments is the instrumental Silent Speech EP . Spanning five tracks, the EP is full of atmosphere and dreamy instrumentation. Pretty damn good for a month's work.

• Porcelain Raft - Silent Speech EP

Less than a year after releasing their sophomore album Here , Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros have announced a third full-length record. Yet to be titled, the album will be released on July 23rd and stemmed from the same sessions as Here : In the middle of the recording process we realized we were essentially making a double album. Being four years since our last album, the writing explored a wide variety of subject and sound, as it turned out we had a lot to say," explained the [...]

Vampire Weekend made their way across the pond this week to pimp their upcoming album Modern Vampires of the City . During their visit to the UK, the group performed live in session at Maida Vale studios for Zane Lowe 's BBC Radio 1 programme. During the performance the vampires performed six new tracks, including "Everlasting Arms," "Obvious Bicycle," "Step," "Ya Hey," "Unbelievers" and "Diane Young," along with some of their classics like "A-Punk" and "Diplomat's Son." Stream the whole performance below. Vampire Weekend's BBC Radio 1 Setlist: [...]

So over the next few days a tonne of great bands will descend upon Yorkshire for Live at Leeds 2013 . As is ever popular, a festival in a city spread out across numerous venues and bands ranging through many a genre. Check out the official website for a full list. There are some really interesting bands playing and some personal favourites too. Rather excited for an early start tomorrow and a train journey across thr country for it. We'll have a full review up for you next week but in the mean time I thought we'd [...]

Nardwuar the Human Serviette is loved by many, conducting interviews intelligently and offering plenty of gifts to those lucky musicians. On the other hand, there are many people out there who can't stand the quirky Canadian. In this particular case, though, I urge everyone to press play. Nardwuar recently interviewed ?uestlove (of The Roots and Jimmy Fallon fame), with the whole interview lasting a mind-boggling 46 minutes. During their time together the two discuss a ton of different topics, and you'll likely learn a lot from these knowledgeable gentleman. Check it out below.

Daft Punk continue their video series "The Collaborators," bringing in producer and multi-instrumentalist Chilly Gonzales to discuss his time with the robotic duo. Chilly took his talents to help Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo develop key changes and harmonies as well as chord progressions on several of the tracks featured on Random Access Memories . It's an interesting watch. Check it out below. If you've yet to watch any of "The Collaborators" videos, the previous five have featured Giorgio Moroder , Todd Edwards , Nile Rodgers , Pharrell Williams [...]

Mayer Hawthorne is back with another album full of soulful croons and funk ballads. Following up 2011's How Do You Do is his third album entitled Where Does This Door Go , which will be released on July 16th. Featuring production from Pharrell Williams and more, this new LP sees Hawthorne growing up and exploring "a journey into the unknown. As a musician, you're only as good as your next record, and you never know what's through that next door." For now, all we have is an album announcement trailer featuring footage from [...]

• Mayer Hawthorne - Designer Drug

Emperor Steele and Lord Littlemore traverse a desert canyon in Empire of the Sun 's new video for " Alive ." As their journey progresses, they are joined by like-minded followers. Watch as they don ridiculous outfits and show the true power of a harmonized chorus and a dance beat. Empire of the Sun's sophomore album Ice on the Dune is out on June 18th.

In between being a New Girl and that girl the majority of guys think is cute in an annoying kind of way, Zooey Deschanel likes to make sweet, sweet music with M. Ward under the name of She & Him . Next week, they'll release Volume 3 on Merge Records and it's sure to make your knees weak and your heart melt. Well, it might do, if you're into folky original compositions from Zooey along with a few covers for good measure. The album can be pre-ordered on their website [...]

Crystal Castles have released an interesting visual to sit alongside "Affection". It's made up entirely of footage taken while they were on tour in South America. It's then been spliced together Stephen Agnew after Alice was filmed by Ethan, Crystal Castles were filmed by Chris Chartrand, the bands live drummer, and Ashley McMinn was filmed by Marc Pannozzo a long time Crystal Castles video collaborator. The result is a blur of intoxication and frantic performances. Perfect for the beautiful, moody melody of the track. "Affection" is set for it's official release on the 10th of June in [...]

I think we all were a bit bummed when Mike Skinner called an end to The Streets. That's probably why we've been a little antsy about getting hold of the second album from Mr. Skinner and Rob Harvey, previously of The Music. Under their moniker of The D.O.T , Next week they'll finally release Diary , but as is the norm these days, you can stream the album in full prior to release next Monday (May 6th) on Cooking Vinyl. Check out the record that mixes together a bit of this and a bit of that [...]

• the d.o.t. - Diary

Nicolas Jaar 's label Clown + Sunset teamed up with Red Bull Music Academy to throw a party at the Boiler Room in New York. Good quality footage of Jaar's entire DJ set have surfaced, and it's nearly 50 minutes of minimalist electronic goodness. If you've got the craving for that kind of thing (I know I do), then hit play and get lost in the music.

Earl Sweatshirt was at Mayfest in Syracuse this past weekend, and while he was there he dropped a new cut from his upcoming album Doris . The features a hook from RZA , who wasn't actually at the performance, but it's dirty and amazing. It's cell phone footage, but you might as well check out the nameless track below.