MP3: The National - "Bloodbuzz Ohio"
Near the tail-end of the first track of The Dead Weather 's second album, Sea of Cowards , Jack White intones us with the urgent knowledge that he wants to "leave a trace". With a work ethic like his - three major projects, playing drums, guitar and vox, and a seemingly endless well of songwriting inspiration - one unfamiliar with music in general would think he was well on his way. The trouble White faces in his quest, though, is balancing his insatiable hunger for quantity with the depth of quality tunes. [...]

Mark Kozelek , the Bay Area singer/songwriter best known for his rise to fame as frontman for Red House Painters , has released the first taste of his upcoming Sun Kil Moon effort Admiral Fell Promises . If you like solo acoustic feel of "Australian Winter" be sure to pre-order the full LP which is due out July 13th on Calde Verde . MP3: Sun Kil Moon - "Australian Winter"
The good people at Extraneous Noise sent us some of their recent footage of Neon Indian's show at the Great Scott in Alston, MA. "Should Have Taken Acid with You" was a standout and definitely shows that no matter what you think of Neon Indian, they put on a good live show (we also recommend checking out their performance on the Jimmy Fallon show ). Enjoy.
Growing up in Seattle the first tape I purchased was Sir-Mix-a-Lot's Swass . A Tribe Called Quest , Wu Tang , Ice Cube , were my building blocks. In the last decade it was Definitive Jux , now it's Stones Throw . I wanted it all. But therein lies my fundamental problem. I'm addicted to a genre that has been declared dead. What's a guy like me to do? Mainstream hip hop is in the midst of a strange era. Record exec [...]
The New Pornographers have consistently held down their blissed-out style of folksy pop tunes for more than a decade now, with release after critically-adored release appealing to the inner kid running across sun-soaked beaches, whining to swim right after downing strawberry ice cream. A couple of similarly-lauded releases from individual members and a few years later and the crew's all back for Together , but does the sound return, too? Not exactly. Along with the great rhythm section, anthemic vocal harmonies and pounding piano chords, the collective added some awfully dirty guitar [...]
Emily Wells is a cool chick. And mad talented. With an intensive production style based on the layering and looping of gobs (yes, gobs) of tracks, Wells creates lush, modern, moody symphonies assembled from violin tracks layered with hip-hop beats and Wells' ethereal, haunting voice. You can hear it all on her album The Symphonies: Dreams, Memories & Parties . Calling from the back of a tour van near Portland, Wells tells Stranger Dance about performing, writing and pillow fighting with Dan the Automator . Wells plays San Francisco on April 25 at [...]
As part of the Rolling Stones re-release of Exile on Main St. on May 18th, the rock gods will also be including never before heard tracks from the 1972 sessions. But for those of us who can't wait, "Plundered My Soul" was released on Record Store Day and now the official video is making the rounds. You're welcome.
As part of the Rolling Stones re-release of Exile on Main St. on May 18th, the rock gods will also be including never-before-heard tracks from the 1972 sessions. But for those of us who can't wait, "Plundered My Soul" was released on Record Store Day and now the official video is making the rounds. You're welcome.
What does it take to get Blur to record a new track? Record Store Day . Albarn and company released their first single in seven years to show their solidarity with independent record stores all across the globe. The result is "Fool's Day," a limited edition 73 that was only pressed 1,000 times. Luckily a stream has been posted on Youtube. Enjoy.
And by Thom Yorke I mean Atoms for Peace . They pulled into Oakland's Fox Theatre last night and gave fans a version of Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart" during the second encore. But you know what I was more excited about? The fact that they also broke out "Follow Me Around" during their first night. For those of you who don't know, this gem is just as much of a legend as "Nude" which finally appeared [...]
And by Thom Yorke I mean Atoms for Peace , Yorke's side project featuring Flea, Joey Waronker and Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich. They pulled into Oakland's Fox Theatre last night and gave fans a version of Joy Division 's "Love Will Tear Us Apart" during the second encore. But you know what I was more excited about? The fact that they also broke out "Follow Me Around" during their first night. For those of you who don't [...]

With all the mp3s and live videos we've heard a good portion of The National's upcoming LP High Violet (5/11). And so far, so great. Check out the latest track to make the rounds, "Afraid of Everyone," which features Sufjan Stevens on backup vocals. MP3: The National - "Afraid of Everyone"
With all the MP3s and live videos, we've heard a good portion of The National 's upcoming LP High Violet (due out 5/11). And so far, so great. Check out the latest track to make the rounds, "Afraid of Everyone," which features Sufjan Stevens on backup vocals. MP3: The National - "Afraid of Everyone"

Baltimore's Beach House is set to release an exclusive Zebra 123 for Record Store Day this Saturday April, 17th. The EP will include four tracks, including the new tune "The Arrangement" which you can stream below. Beach House - The Arrangement

Deer Tick unveiled the details of their third album The Black Dirt Sessions (out on 6/8) last week along with a free download of "20 Miles." Check out the full track listing after the jump. MP3: Deer Tick - "20 Miles" The Black Dirt Sessions: "Choir of Angels" "Twenty Miles" "Goodbye, Dear Friend" "Piece By Piece, Frame By Frame" "Sad Sun" "Mange" [...]
The formula has existed and been tried time and again. Take one producer with an ear for equal parts Moby/Eric B. , add heavy dose Massive Attack atmospherics, add murmured female vocalist, shake studio vigorously and hope for lightning to strike. Past efforts by Alias and Tarsier , Blue Sky Black Death , and maybe even Flunk have hinted the formula has promise. Nevertheless, these past experiments seemed to be just that. Enter the debut album from Josh Carter and Sarah Barthel, Phantogram's Eyelid [...]
"From the pop-art multi-media experiments of Andy Warhol and the Velvet Underground to the sinister gentility of Peter Gabriel's Genesis , White Light, White Heat traces how rock became a vehicle for artistic ideas and theatrical performance. We follow Pink Floyd from their beginnings with the fated art school genius of Syd Barrett through to the global success of 'Dark Side of the Moon' to the ultimate rock theatre show, 'The Wall'. Along the way, the film explores the retro-futurism of Roxy Music [...]
Ah, the internet age and its band widgets that try to get you to sign up for email reminders while the first single teases you... Band of Horses will release Infinite Arms on May 18th and we've been fans of their previous efforts so add this to the list of big expectations.
For anyone who has listened to Pieces of Man they have an idea of the artist that is Gil Scott-Heron . He miraculously blended controversial spoken word, jazz, blues, and soul like no other artist I can think of... imagine if Roy Ayers , John Lee Hooker and Saul Williams all had bloodlines. That is Gil Scot Heron, the poet of society's ills. But who is the Gil Scot-Heron of I'm New Here ? After sixteen years Heron is [...]