Blog: Stereogum

Last month, Hold Steady frontman Craig Finn released Clear Heart Full Eyes , his first-ever solo album, and he's lately done a few different in-studio sessions for a few different media outlets. At a couple of those, he's played songs that, for whatever reason, didn't appear on the album. During his session for NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts video session, he did one called "Jeremiah's Blues," a really sad and beautifully written story-song that should've absolutely been on the album. And on a session for Minnesota Public Radio's The Current , he played [...]

Sondre Lerche's new video for "When The River" is a pretty, soft-focus splicing of Super 8 film (from drummer David Heilman's childhood) and Lerche performance footage shot by his Lerche's, Mona. It's a clip that underscores the heartsickness of nostalgia and the mellow sadness of Lerche's music, all presented with vivid flecks of color and life. Though the Super 8 thing is pretty overdone at this point, it's a nice reminder of that style's effectiveness when thoughtfully employed. Watch the clip below. Read More...

Some collaborations just make too much sense. Odd Future member Domo Genesis and actual rap star Wiz Khalifa are both such stoners that they both released albums called Rolling Papers at roughly the same time. For a minute, there was even a rumor that Odd Future was furious about Wiz for the transgression, but no, Odd Future love Wiz. And now both of those guys are together on a perfectly pleasant new rap song called "Ground Up." Cardo produces. Listen to it below. Read More...

The thrashing Jersey indie rock outfit Screaming Females will release their new record, Ugly this April. Today, they premiered that release's mid-tempo leadoff track, which features some of the shred that the Marissa Paternoster-fronted band is known for. Head to Rolling Stone to hear it. Tour dates below. Read More...

On last night's episode of the Late Show With David Letterman , the Kills brought a stripped-down, no-backing-band rendition of their gooily gorgeous ballad " The Last Goodbye " to the stage. Allison Mosshart's hair looked extra-nuts, and she sounded amazing. It's one of the stronger late-night performances in recent memory, and you can watch it below. Read More...

Last month, the Boss returned with the old-school anguished stadium-stomper " We Take Care Of Our Own ," and today he's debuted the video for that track. The clip, which helpfully prints all the lyrics onscreen and which intermingles footage of serious-looking Bruce with salt-of-the-earth Americana imagery, is really nothing to write home about. But it's always fun to watch Springsteen being Springsteen. Check it out below. Read More...

Thanks to reader memoryboy for sending us this link to Triple J radio, where Chairlift and DR rap star Victor Vazquez aka Kool A.D. cover Beyoncé's "Party." In it, Caroline plays the part of Beyoncé and Kool that of André, and though this would have had fascinating results if they had reversed roles, everyone benefits from this more conventional casting because a) Caroline has a great voice for covers (I have seen her do an incredible "Wuthering Heights") and b) Victor is a rap star. (Note: Vic's verses are de novo and he puts Common/Drake on blast just kidding he's [...]

Noel Gallagher's new "Dream On" video is a beautifully crafted, entertainingly ridiculous affair about an intergender match in which the dude gets his ass handily beat. Gallagher himself plays the ref, and the air of old-school glamor is put together really well. This is the type of goofy, high-concept video that big artists used to make all the time, and it's good to see someone stepping up and delivering that today. Watch it below. Read More...

In a couple of weeks, Thrill Jockey will issue a limited edition set of Wooden Shjip remixes on vinyl featuring the likes of Andrew Weatherall, Spaceman 3, and Kandodo (Simon Price of The Heads). The first take of that album, Weatherall's thundering take on the SF psych rockers' " Crossing ," streams below. Read More...

They're both charismatic and weird-looking white rappers, but beyond that, Action Bronson and Riff Raff don't have a whole lot in common. Bronson is a classic New York-style bruiser, while Riff Raff is a crazy-eyed drug-gobbling Soulja Boy affiliate with a diamond chain that looks like a Slurpee. On this unexpected collab, though, they sound pretty great together, partly because the beat is such an awesomely zoned-out slow-crawl and partly because they are both good at rapping. The video is fun, too. Max Albert directs; watch it below. Read More...

Young Vancouver dude Mac DeMarco is about to release his album Rock And Roll Night Club next month. Below, listen to the tweaked-out weirdo-blues joint "I'm A Man," which is the sort of thing a 15-year-old Lou Reed might've made if he'd had access to GarageBand and Tumblr. Read More...

• Mac DeMarco - I'm A Man

Meek Mill's follow-up to last years underrated Dream Chasers drops soon, and previously we heard the Cardiak-produced " Lean With It ," a sinewy rap track consistent with the street-savvy strengths of Dream Chasers . Another track from the impending released is now on the web, the Rick Ross-assisted "Erday," and, probably thanks to another Cardiak beat, it's an escalating jam with a similar verve in which we find Rozay and Meek trading verses. Download below. Read More...

• Meek Mill - Erday (Feat. Rick Ross)

Cat Power had been planning to play a 2/13 show in Tel Aviv, but on her Facebook , she claims that she won't be playing that show after all. After initially posting something about figuring out a way to play a show for Palestinian fans in Ramallah, Chan Marshall posted this: "DUE TO MUCH CONFUSION IN MY SOUL,PLAYİNG FOR MY İSRAELİ FANS W/SUCH UNREST BETWEEN İSRAEL&PALESTİNE I CAN'T PLAY,AS I FEEL SICK IN MY SPIRIT XX." This post, naturally, has a whole mess of divided comments already.

In a couple of months, Akron/Family percussionist Dana Janssen, recording under the name Dana Buoy, will release his solo debut Summer Bodies . Below, download a track from that album: the pulsating, synthetic "Call To Be." Read More...

• Dana Buoy - 08 Call To Be

Last year, Franz Ferdinand released their Covers EP, which collected other bands' versions of their songs, on Record Store Day. Now, they've brought in a few other people to remix those covers. Below, listen to Brennan Green and dOP's revisions of various "Live Alone" covers. Read More...

Kids! Kids are the best. As someone who's about to have his second, I am helpless before a music video that shows kids doing kid things like shuffle-toddling across floors and losing teeth and digging up ancient boxes of shredded, forgotten photos. (Actually, I'm not sure that last one is a kid thing per se.) That's what's going on in this Crooked Fingers clip. Pictureshow Films direct; watch it below. Read More...

When M.I.A. held up her middle finger during Madonna's Super Bowl Halftime Show last weekend, she dominated blog chatter for a few days and incited a few minor cable-TV debates. She could have to pay a fine, and she's definitely changed the narrative around her next album. But she hasn't gotten anywhere near the pantheon of music's most controversial live-TV performances; she didn't even hold that finger proudly up to the camera. If she really wanted to start riots, she should've taken note of the moments on our list below. Add your own picks to the comments section. [...]

From an exposure standpoint, Sleigh Bells are on a fucking tear - not only will they cover the new Spin , they're also playing two Reign Of Terror songs on the 2/18 SNL . To quote Bart Simpson, "There's only one thing to do at a time like this: strut!" And strut they do for a new GQ photo shoot. Check out the gallery at GQ.com .

I'm sure Cordoba's Patio Olmos shopping gallery is a great place. But it seems like this TV commercial could've let us in on that without shamelessly biting Battles' " Ice Cream " or using that creepy mother arm. Make your own call after watching it below. Thanks to Jeff for the tip. Read More...

?uestlove was throwing Twitter shots at Justin Vernon just a few months ago, but all that is long-buried. Last week, when he was in town for Saturday Night Live , the Bon Iver frontman stopped by the Late Night With Jimmy Fallon studios. As a special treat for the studio audience, he and the Roots played an astral, heavily Auto-Tuned eight-minute take on "Perth" that sounded perfectly lovely. And now, in their infinite wisdom, the people at Fallon have put that video online. Watch it below; it's great. Read [...]