Blog: Pretty Much Amazing

Kid Cudi may have pushed back his collaborative album with Dot Da Genius , WZRD , from January 31 to February 28, but he did release a new single from the album, the Drive soundtrack-sampling "Teleport 2 Me, Jamie." The atmospheric jam is almost entirely void of the riffage Cudi and Genius threw on other WZRD track "Brake" . It would actually fit effortlessly within Kid Cudi's hazy oeuvre – somewhere between "Pursuit of Happiness" and "Mr. Rager." Whether or not this is a bad thing [...]

You know the details of Air's upcoming Le Voyage Dans La Lune – the French electro duo were asked to score a restored version of George Melies' original sci-fi film of the same title, and their project quickly evolved into a full album that includes vocal contributions from Beach House's Victoria Legrand and others. We've caught some of the band's excellent cuts from the score, including "Parade," which NPR premiered a snippet of late last year alongside restored footage from the film. Now you can hear the complete psychedelic instrumental jam with some attendant [...]

You won't be able to correctly guess where nascent chillwave artist Teen Daze is from based on the title of his new single, so let's just lay out some facts right now – dude's from Vancouver, the track's called "Brooklyn Sunburn," and it sounds remarkably like its title, six minutes of shimmery electro mirage that's almost too sun-blind to handle. Continue reading: MP3: New Teen Daze - "Brooklyn Sunburn" Read more articles like " MP3: New Teen Daze - "Brooklyn Sunburn" " on PMA | Pretty Much Amazing . [...]

North Carolina folkies Bowerbirds will release The Clearing , their third record, soon, and now they're unveiling single number two, "In the Yard." It starts off typically confessional and intimate for the band before moving into complex, grand territory with big piano chords, guitar fuzz, and plenty of background horns. We're loving those vocal harmonies and creepy, discordant key changes – and as much as Bowerbirds' strengths lie in secretive-sounding bedroom folk, it's the track's more massive moments that make it worth more than a few repeat listens. The Clearing drops March 6th. [...]

Rufus Wainwright has announced, Out of the Game , his 7th studio album. The album will be produced by Mark Ronson , who is best known for his work with Amy Winehouse on Back To Black . The album will be released April 23rd on Polydor. The album's first single "Jericho" is set to premiere soon. Continue reading: Rufus Wainwright Announces Mark Ronson Produced Album: Out of the Game Read more articles like " Rufus Wainwright Announces Mark Ronson Produced Album: Out [...]

B+ | 01.14.11 | TDE | Stream | MP3 It would be difficult to come up with a better title for ScHoolboy Q's second album, Habits & Contradictions . The album mixes second-nature stoner anthems with sophisticated struggles, lulling you into a hazy calm before pulling you out with a spitfire verse or a hyperactive beat. It's a calming album at times, but leaves the listener's pulse racing, even after 17 tracks and over an hour of music. Continue reading: Album Review: ScHoolboy Q - Habits & [...]

My personal favorite Feist song, "The Bad In Each Other," the opening track from last year's great Metals album, now has a visual accompaniment. The clip is a puzzler, but pretty nonetheless. Check it out below: Continue reading: Video: Feist - "The Bad In Each Other" Read more articles like " Video: Feist - "The Bad In Each Other" " on PMA | Pretty Much Amazing . Tags: Feist

A few months after The White Stripes called it quits, Jack White has announced a solo album, Blunderbuss . The album will be released through White's own Third Man Records on April 24th, with some distribution assistance from Columbia. You can hear the album's first single "Love Interruption" now. Continue reading: Jack White Announces New Album: Blunderbuss , Hear New Single Read more articles like " Jack White Announces New Album: Blunderbuss , Hear New Single " on PMA | Pretty Much [...]

On February 7, Sharon Van Etten will release her promising new album, Tramp . You can listen to it in full below: Continue reading: Album Stream: Sharon Van Etten - Tramp Read more articles like " Album Stream: Sharon Van Etten - Tramp " on PMA | Pretty Much Amazing . Tags: Sharon Van Etten

Shabazz Palaces have released a great new clip for "Are you... can you... were you... (felt)", one of the best songs from one of the best albums of last year . Watch it below and take a peek at Shabazz's newly announced tour dates. Black Up is out now on Sub Pop, and we strongly suggest you check it out. Continue reading: Shabazz Palaces - "Are You... Can You... Were You? (Felt)" Read more articles like " Shabazz Palaces - "Are You... [...]

It shouldn't even be news by now that we and the rest of the internet are obsessed off our faces with Schoolboy Q's absolutely awesome new record Habits & Contradictions . First "weed and brews" anthem "Hands on the Wheel," then that song that samples Menomena ( "There He Go" ) and now Q's own horror movie take on "Niggas In Paris," "Nightmare on Figg Street," which features truly unreal, borderline disorienting production from A$AP Ty Beats and a bunch of brutal verses from Q . Now it's [...]

We briefly got really excited that Sean Paul had sampled New York electro-rave standards The Rapture on his comeback single "How Deep is Your Love?" He doesn't, but the song's such a delicious and prematurely summery slice of dance floor-filling islandy pop that we can't be mad for too long. Continue reading: Sean Paul & Kelly Rowland - "How Deep Is Your Love?" Read more articles like " Sean Paul & Kelly Rowland - "How Deep Is Your Love?" " on PMA | Pretty Much [...]

Ke$ha may have gotten help from some big names on "Get Sleazier," her pounding re-up of "Sleazy," but the song's brand new video is a little more down-to-earth, featuring some characters you might even know personally. Continue reading: Video: Ke$ha, Wiz Kahlifa, Andre 3000, T.I. & Lil Wayne Read more articles like " Video: Ke$ha, Wiz Kahlifa, Andre 3000, T.I. & Lil Wayne " on PMA | Pretty Much Amazing . Tags: Andre 3000 , Ke$ha , Lil Wayne , T.I. , Wiz Khalifa

The Flaming Lips are kicking off 2012 with a typically obtuse, psychadelic mini-release you'll only have a week to check out. "Now I Understand," just uploaded to the band's SoundCloud for a few days, features vocal contributions from frontman Wayne Coyne's Siri iPhone 4s app alongside the mystical stylings of Erykah Badu and a reversed Biz Markie sample. The end product is surprisingly listenable for all its strange disparate parts – we just wish Siri always sounded like Erykah Badu , whose haunting pipes perfectly ground the spacey strangeness of everything else. Check it [...]

As expected , M.I.A's new single "Bad Girls" premiered online this morning. An early version of the track was originally included in Maya's Vicki Leekx mixtape last year. The single will be available at online retailers tomorrow, Jan. 31, and a video is coming in early February. Check out the full "Bad Girls" below: Continue reading: New: M.I.A. - "Bad Girls" Read more articles like " New: M.I.A. - "Bad Girls" " on PMA | Pretty Much Amazing . Tags: M.I.A.

Pop's iconic fairy godmother Madonna , fresh off an unexpected win at the Golden Globes for Best Original Song, has offered details for her forthcoming 12th studio album, MDNA . The album, largely produced by William Orbit ( Ray of Light ), will be released on March 26th, through Interscope Records. The album's first single, "Give Me All Your Luvin'" features M.I.A. and Nicki Minaj , and will premiere on American Idol on February 2nd. Continue reading: Madonna Details New Album, MDNA [...]

Frank Ocean , who in our opinion has long outgrown his Odd Future cohorts, is busy working on what has got to be one of the most anticipated albums of 2012. Like he did a few weeks ago , the crooner has shared a short new song on his Tumblr page, possibly called "Voodoo." The song is not 100 seconds long, but that is all Ocean needs to melt you with his golden falsetto and meditations on marriage – a subject he memorably contemplated on his mixtape, Nostalgia, ULTRA . [...]

Wild Nothing's Jack Tatum has graduated out of the bedroom and into a real recording studio. Our first taste of the new Wild Nothing sound came this morning with "Nowhere," featuring the sedated vocals of Twin Sister's Andrea Estella. Tatum's ace guitar work is just as jangly as we remember and his pop songcraft just as immediate, but we can't seem to shake the feeling that we're listening to a new Pains of Being Pure at Heart track. Continue reading: MP3: New Wild Nothing - "Nowhere" f/ Twin Sister [...]

Memoryhouse's debut album, The Slideshow Effect isn't out until February 28th, but the band keep it fresh on our minds every time they drop an MP3. After their Zombies cover, "This Will Be Our Year" and first single "The Kids Were Wrong," the band share "Walk With Me," a languid and gorgeous piece of dream pop that recalls their early material. Continue reading: MP3: New Memoryhouse - "Walk With Me" Read more articles like " MP3: New Memoryhouse - "Walk With Me" " [...]

Universal's latest signee Azealia Banks debuts a new track in a strange place, even for her: the runway at Mugler's show at Paris Fashion Week (remember her standout "2123 lyric, "kick it with your bitch who come from Parisian, she know where I get mine from and the season..."). Mugler's creative director Nicola Formichetti will reportedly direct the upcoming video for Banks' track "Liquorice," so in return she gave him "Bambi," probably her rave-iest track yet, all pounding, hypnotic club backbeat. Continue reading: New: Azealia Banks - "Bambi" (Studio Version) [...]