Blog: The Maroon Cafe

Following up their collaborative series, night pop twosome Alpines return with a new tune titled 'Empire.' Stream the percussion heavy pulsating track below.  Expect the single to see daylight June 11th and their debut project released later this year. Alpines - Empire

Our superstar it girl Kimbra is set to release her fantastic ' Vows ' project on May 22nd here in the states with six brand new tracks and seven from the original version.  Excited? well so are we and to hold us off until that glorious day, the singer-songwriter has given us a freebie of an EP with a bunch of eye popping remixes.  'Build Up' our favorite from the set is below and definitely should carry you well into the weekend. Kimbra - Build Up (George Fitzgerald Remix) [...]

• Kimbra - Build Up (George FitzGerald remix)

Everyone's a building burning with no one to put the fire out. Standing at the window looking out, waiting for time to burn us down. Not sure how you guys are feeling about this foggy and London like weather on the North East Coast, but on days like today, I like to listen to mellow and melodic music. One tune I haven't heard in a while is " Blame It On The Tetons ," which is off of Modest Mouse's 2004 album Good News For People Who Love Bad News.

While we anxiously await our fresh faces of 2012  and rising singer-songwriter extraordinaire Lianne La Havas debut album this Summer, she recently took the time out to give us a preview of a new tune 'Empty' which also appears on her new single 'Lost and Found.'   We could listen to this voice all day, watch the lovely clip above.

Mr. Remix himself RAC ( Andre Allen Anjos) gets some vocal assistance from male-popper Crispin Glover (Penguin Prison) for their new collaboration 'Hollywood.' Surely this catchy ass tune will be heating up your Summer quite nicely. Grab the free single released today via Green Label Sound below. RAC Feat. Penguin Prison - Hollywood

Surfer Blood take time out while working on their next project to cover the Raspberries hit 'Go All The Way.' Movie buffs (like myself) may remember hearing this tune on 'Almost Famous' which still holds up as one of the best film soundtracks ever.  Grab the fun version from the Floridians below. Surfer Blood - Go All The Way (Raspberries Cover)

Laurel Halo will be debuting her first full project ' Quarantine ' on May 28th, her first single 'Light and Space' is a beautiful slow burner that makes this forthcoming effort much more anticipated.  Stream this little lovely in all of its under five minute glory below. Laurel Halo - Light and Space Via (  GvsB )

2:54 will be releasing their debut project on May 28th via Fat Possum and you can expect to hear latest single 'Creeping' on that album, a cut that we originally surfaced back in 2010.  Still sounding spookier than ever the track just got a little polishing in the studio, which for fans of the Sisterly duo is not a bad thing at all. 2:54 - Creeping

The US release of Michael Kiwanuka's debut album, "Home Again" is a week away. We are eagerly awaiting to see what type of response Kiwanuka will receive in the US. Check out his video of I'll Get Along below.

Bristol's own Danny Coughlan returns with the latest single under his Crybaby  moniker ' When The Lights Go Out ' from the fascinating self-titled debut album.  I've been in awe of this project, a project  that has Mercury Prize nomination written all over it, it's that good.  Watch the clip for the sad tune above.

"Little Broken Hearts hops from the maverick caravel onto the port-bound steamer." Norah Jones - Little Broken Hearts (2012) 5.5/10 Blue Note/EMI If like me, you feel that Come Away With Me was one of those set in the stone of my musical memory albums, you’ll be quite surprise by Norah Jones’ 5th album – “Little Broken Hearts”. Although she had already moved from the minimalistic suave jazz instrumentals and patterns of her debut with 2009’s “The Fall” – the Chasing Pirates video epitomizes her creating a much more specific [...]

Lovable duo  Peter and Kerry are set to release their forthcoming debut project ' La Trimouille ' on July 7th, lively 'Fucking Around' is the first track from that upcoming effort.  Watch the colorful Tim Bowditch & Claire Pepper directed clip above.

Paris via Los Angeles singer, songwriter, actress, and activist, SOKO, took Yours Truly, Levi's, and the LA Girls Choir on a Water Less adventure to Deep Creek Hot Springs in the Mojave Desert to record this arresting version of her song "How Are You," and share her perspective on the importance of living a conscious, sustainable, lifestyle. Lovable singer-songwriter and activist  Soko teams up with Yours Truly and the L.A. Girls Choir for a lovely version of 'How Are You' which can be found on her latest album ' I Thought [...]

'4evaNaDay' gets the treatment clip from  Big K.R.I.T ' s latest self titled mixtape.  Watch the Decatur Dan  directed visual above and his proper debut album ' Live From The Underground ' will see daylight on June 5th.

Tennis releases their retro-inspired clip for latest single from the well constructed 'Young & Old' project which is available now. Back up dancers and Alaina Moore performing her 'My Better Self' tune center stage (literally) enjoy the Lilliput directed visuals above.

A little over a week ago we told you that Metric are releasing their new album, ' Synthetica ' . It seems rare to release album details nowadays without a single to go along with it. Well, wait no longer, their single Youth Without Youth is drops today. Head to their soundcloud page to find out how this track came about and you can also download the sheet music to this track as well.

• Metric - Youth Without Youth

Last day of April and it's been a fun 30 days, our first Coachella, new venture expansions coming in the next few weeks that includes a stellar new layout, it all went down this month.  So in same monthly fashion we've conjured up the hottest jams from around the planet for your listening pleasure which you can stream/download in full below.  With new music from Kindess, a blazing collab from Disclosure feat. Sinead Harnett, Fiona Apple, Purity Ring and more.... it's all here! Hit play and listen all the way through, your ears will thank you for it. [...]

Miguel completes the last installment of his Art Dealer Chic series with Vol. 3, if you're counting like we are, that's nine tracks we've heard in total of a very solid project and some of the best experimental R&B this year.  While the rising singer-songwriter still has plans on releasing an official full length album later this year, we still applaud the time and effort of giving us free tuneage to hold us over until that moment arrives.  Grab in its entirety below. Miguel - Art Dealer Chic Vol. 3 [...]

As promised Niki & The Dove   have delivered their very first mixtape.  Last week the duo premiered ' Hot Summer ' as the first track from this project, now you can listen to some new tracks & alternate versions of material from the forthcoming album ' Instinct ,' which drops on May 14th.  Stream it in its entirety below. Niki & The Dove - Mixtape #1

M.I.A. has been in the headlines over the past few months and for all the wrong reasons.... lets just say she's getting all of her rants out early so when the year ends, she'll be able to focus more on her new forthcoming album ' Matangi .'  Until then watch the under two minute clip of a track 'Come Walk With Me' from that project, your morning pick me up has just arrived.