Blog: The 405

San Francisco pop band Sonny & The Sunsets have shared 'Palmreader', the second track from their next record. 'Palmreader' is laden with guitar riffs that snake in and out of each other. They propel the melody forward with a head bobbing momentum. Still present is their jangling, sunny psychedelic pop trademarks as they ruminate on the end of the world. Sonny & The Sunsets release Antenna To The Afterworld via Polyvinyl on June 11.

• Sonny & The Sunsets - palmreader

The Dodos return with their debut release for new label, Polyvinyl on August 27th. The album, Carrier is heavily influenced by the death of guitarist Christopher Reimer, singer Meric Long says, "Chris was a huge influence on the way I think about guitar, songwriting, and music in general. Seeing how he could transform and shape sound with an electric guitar inspired me to explore more tones and use those tones to begin writing a song." Check out the tracklisting below. Tracklist: [...]

Nepenthe is the new album from Julianna Barwick . It was recorded during February in a very wintery Reykjavík and will be released on August 20th via Dead Oceans. Watch the very atmospheric trailer below. Juliana also tours in support of the record over the summer. Dates are below. Tour Dates: 05/16/13 Montclair, NJ - Welmont Theater with The Flaming Lips 06/18/13 London, UK - Meltdown Festival @ Purcell Room, Southbank Centre 07/14/13 Kingston, NY - BSP Lounge [...]

New York rapper and Bad Boy label mate French Montana has released 'Gifted', a new track from his upcoming debut record. 'Gifted' is a departure from the typical bangers Montana is known for, instead taking a more low key approach. This restraint doesn't mean a loss in urgency as Montana spits verses in a driven and relentless style. Adding to the atmosphere on 'Gifted' is guest artist The Weeknd , crooning the hook with the choir vocals in the background. French Montana will drop his debut, Excuse [...]

Dr. Dre has, with Universal Music bigwig Jimmy Iovine, donated $70 million dollars to the University of Southern California for a new undergraduate program that will focus on arts, technology, marketing and entrepreneurship. You wonder why Dre didn’t just drop the cash on a cloning program. "The academy’s core education will create a common, multi-lingual literacy and fluency across essential disciplines. This 'big picture' knowledge and skill will equip graduates with a leadership perspective that is unparalleled in an undergraduate degree, and that will be applicable to virtually any industry," said USC dean Erica Muhl. [...]

No text

No text

Colleen , the musical alter-ego of Cécile Schott, has never made conventional, immediate records. From her 2003 debut Everyone Alive Wants Answers , which was made entirely from looped samples, to her third and final album for Leaf, the more free-form Les Ondes Silencieuses , she became known for creating minimal, dreamlike ambient music. She has been silent since 2009 when she took a break from music, and now she has returned with a brand new album and a fresh approach. The Weighing of the Heart is her first for the Second Language [...]

It only took a glimpse of the cover art for Modern Vampires of The City - a black and white snap of a smoggy day in the Big Apple circa 1966 - to suggest that the preppy Brooklynites had transcended their good weather-blemished roots for something more ominous. Although, despite its visual menace alongside the deranged Eddie Cochran vibe of introductory single 'Diane Young, their third full-length is far from a flash of fang. Instead it's a multi-faceted culmination of all Vampire Weekend 's ardent yea-sayers have come to revel in thus far; bouncy, often chipper and [...]

The general consensus when it comes to The National one of the most consistent bands going today, tracing a steady upward arc from their patchy self-titled debut to their breakthrough album, High Violet . Plenty of people were falling over themselves to praise that album upon release three years ago, and since then, they've waited, with varying degrees of patience, to see what the band would produce next. Trouble Will Find Me is the sound of The National settling into themselves. This is not the same as settling down and aiming for the same heights [...]

We featured electronic producer Tiger Tsunami last month and were thoroughly impressed with his slick, off-kilter production and strong melodic sensibilities. Now Christian Parker has returned with an EP of remixes all from up and coming producers including Koloto, Nuages and FXXXYBLNT. Our favourite comes from London based Nuages, who has expertly crafted a stunning laid-back reworking of Antarctica, making use of lush reverb and an immersive and dreamy soundscape. The EP is available for free download here .

• Tiger Tsunami - Antarctica (Nuages Remix)

EA DICE is developing a new engine for Mobile devices called Frostbite Go . A while back, EA confirmed that they wouldn’t be developing the Frostbite 3 engine for the Wii U because the console couldn't even handle its previous engine, the Frostbite 2 engine. The fact that EA is developing the Frostbite engine for Mobile devices is a major slap in the face for Nintendo ’s flagship console, though it's hardly surprising. With poor game sales from the console, mobile gamings [...]

With new album MCII fresh out, Mikal Cronin has reunited with director Claire Marie Vogel to produce a video for ‘Change’. The video shows Cronin playing a house party, which includes an invisible kid as one of its guests. Things get weird.

Math-rockers Tall Ships have a new video for album track ‘Phosphorescence’. Possibly one of the least flashy videos you’ll see this year. Sometimes a great track needs a little minimalism to let it breathe.

You can’t accuse Ty Segall of being a slacker. After releasing a three albums over the course of 2012, the San Franciscan psych-rocker has released a trailer for new album Sleeper . If anything, the trailer goes to great lengths to prove that Ty does indeed take time out for a quick snooze in between recording. Sleeper is due out on August 20th.

If you're in need of some shoegaze to get you over the mid-week hump, then some Forest will be just the ticket. We've featured 'John' on the site before, and are excited to present the video to you. You can investigate it below. We are similarly excited to say that you can stream the band's debut EP, 'Sweetcure', a whole two weeks before its release. We recommend it. Vinyl fans will be pleased to know that there's a very limited sea-blue 7" of the 4-track EP out on May 27th on Tip Top Recordings.

UK independent publisher, System 3 , was responsible for releasing Putty Squad for the Amiga back in 1992. To celebrate the company’s 30 years in business, System 3 has decided to remake and release Putty Squad for PS3, PS Vita, Xbox 360 , PC, Wii U and Nintendo DS . According to System 3 CEO Mark Cale, the Putty Squad remake has been a fantastic trip down memory lane for the company: "Working on such a prestigious title again [...]

Petite Noir , the soulful singer hailing from South Africa, released a new video for his single Noirse . In it, we follow Petite Noir one evening to a dimly lit arcade where he makes a connection with a girl. The narrative splits here, letting us piece the doomed love story together as the video progresses. By the end, Noir seems heartbroken, singing “Don’t take it away,” as the girl leaves the following morning. Noirse is taken from Petite [...]

Rayman Legends is still a bit away thanks to the massive delay incurred by parent publishing company Ubisoft , however they've been nice enough to share with us more gameplay footage of this jaw droppingly gorgeous game in action. The new trailer shows a ocean world called “20 000 Lums under the Sea” and will introduce new enemies and a dark and light mechanic, bringing a gameplay style that appears to run counter to the run and punch “musical” stages that we’ve seen in previous trailers.

Google is set to take another stab at the music streaming game, according to the New York Times. The company is expected to make the announcement today during their Google I/O developer conference. The service is anticipated to cost around $10 for a monthly subscription, although deals with record companies have apparently been going slowly due to disagreements with the RIAA, who are critically of Google's attitude towards music piracy. Deals, however, have apparently been struck with Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and Warner Music Group. Meanwhile, Google owned YouTube have also made [...]