Blog: Bears and Bullets

Michael Kiwanuka was somewhat of an emerging cult figure (not in that creepy sense) before winning BBC's Sound of 2012 poll last month. The poll is designed to find which artist critics and writers believe will emerge strongest in the year, which since it's inception in 2003, has produced a lengthy list of notable acts. Check out the list here , and watch Kiwanuka's rendition of "I'm Getting Ready" on Mahogany Sessions below.

Last week, The Drums premiered their newest video for "Days" off the group's 2011 album Portamento . The Patrick Roberts' directed video is shot entirely in black and white, in the same aesthetic as the group's Viseomento series. Watch below.

A few weeks back, Santigold premiered "Big Mouth," a less-than stellar single from her upcoming Master of My Make-Believe . Fortunately, "Disparate Youth," the album's first official single, is more in line with the woman who mad "L.E.S. Artistes." Watch the simple animated video for the song below.

Anyone familiar at least with the Drive Soundtrack should recognize The Chromatics , who debuted their hazy, glitter-sheen video for "Lady" today. Watch beautiful people mope below.

Enough Justin Vernon's acceptance speech at last Sunday's Grammy Awards. The brainchild behind Bon Iver released a near-25 minute performance of songs from his last self-titled album, 2009's Blood Bank EP, plus his well-known cover of Bonnie Rait's "I Can't Make You Love Me." Watch the whole session below, via 4AD and Jagjaguwar Records.

Guys, you have to admit that Diplo is fun. Everyone loves working with him, and he's pretty damn consistent with catchy dance tracks, so listening to "Express Yourself" with Nicky Da B for the Philly-native's upcoming EP of the same name. Listen here . Feel.

Earlier today, Ceremony premiered the second song from their upcoming March LP Zoo , "World Blue." Watch the Robert Semmer-directed video of the band's notorious mosh-fest shows below, and grab the album March 6 via Matador Records .

A couple days ago, Pitchfork released a video featuring Real Estate playing at, yep, a mega-sized Chinese buffet in Queens eating and playing songs from their recent album Days . I haven't done this myself, but this seems like an amazing idea, tacky or whatever. Watch below.

As part of the promotion for Andrew Bird 's new Break It Yourself LP, the Chicago-native released two covers as part of a 7" of the same name. Bird's cover of Alpha Consumer's "The Crown Salesman" is available to stream below, but you can you grab the download over at his Facebook page here (simply join his mailing list and the song will automatically download). Break It Yourself is scheduled for release March 6, via Mom + Pop Music . The Crown [...]

The Rapture premiered their newest video from last year's In The Grace of Your Love , with the album's title track. The slow-moving, dance hall beat to Luke Jenner's familiar wails play with the discotheque lighting, in what we all should know is a really religious song, but still a good one. Watch the video via The Dream End , and grab the album now via DFA Records.

Valentine's Day theme's keep-a-fuckin' comin'. Jack White also premiered the first video from his upcoming solo premiere Blunderbuss today too. Nothing fancy here, just White and co-singer Ruby Amanfu in the studio shot singing "Love Interruption." Watch below.

I guess Valentine's Day befits the title of Burial 's newest video pretty well. There's really nothing astonishing about the video, just a basic kaleidoscopic view for a few minutes, but it's Burial's music, so there's some merit within. It comes from the recently released Kindred EP, which you can stream here . Check out the video below.

Now that Lollapalooza is finally starting to leak, it's due time that the Bonnaroo lineup made its way out. With less than four months to go before the June 7-10, Manchester, Tennessee festival, the official lineup was finally released earlier today, with major acts like Radiohead , Phish , Red Hot Chili Peppers , and The Beach Boys leading the way. Expected lineup inclusions like Bon Iver ( Bonny Bear ), The Avett Brothers , and The Shins will be there as [...]

This time last year, we already knew a handful of headliners and sub-headliners for Chicago's Lollapalooza , so waiting until mid-February was a bit boring. Until today, the only rumors shifting through for the festival have been off-hand suspicions of Metallica and Red Hot Chili Peppers , among other headliners clinging to festivals like Sasquatch! and Coachella . And while those aforementioned rumors for Metallica seem to have some legitimacy now, a few other names have been 'leaked.' Now, these still are not confirmations, so don't take them as such, but [...]

Yesterday, Burial (pretty unsuspected too), released his new Kindred EP. This comes after a few delays, after the original release date last month. Anytime he (William Bevan) releases anything, it's worth of a mention, so head on over to Hyperdub to listen and/or order for yourself. Check out the title track below.

The Kills made another late night television appearance last night, performing the continually somber "The Last Goodbye" on Letterman . Keeping it short, Jamie and Allison are still both wearing leather jackets, which I imagine they sleep in, and Allison's hair was slightly bananas. Watch below.

I'm usually not one for off-hand remixes, but Shabazz Palaces altered rendition of Battles ' "White Electric" is pretty on the spot. It's a little side-project for the group, who are releasing four separate remixed 12" parts of last year's album Gloss Drop , with plenty of good artists set to help out. I'll keep an eye on it, but for now listen to "White Electric" below.

Dana Buoy, better known as Dana Janssen of Akron/Family , released "Call To Be," the first single from his upcoming album Summer Bodies . Listen to Janssen's single below and grab the album May 8, via Lefse Records . Dana Buoy - Call To Be by Bears and Bullets

A little while back, Beach Fossils premiered their newest single "Shallow," a bouncy, shining, but typically good Beach Fossils-esque outlet. In preparation for the release of their "Shallow" 7", the band also released the single's B-Side, "Lessons." Check it out below, and grab the single February 21 via Captured Tracks . Beach Fossils - Lessons by Bears and Bullets

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