Brooklyn's Selebrities channel a bit of The Go-Go's 80s spunk on "Surrounded By You," a B-side and self-described "summer jam" taken from the band's May-released LP Delusions . While Selebrities often bask in a New Wave menagerie of twinkling synths and Factory Records-inspired dance instrumentation, "Surrounded By You" is more of a straight guitar, drum, and vocal sound—and it's all the more refreshing for its simplicity. A blissful concoction and absolute charmer that gets better with each repeated listen. ( via ) Selebrities - "Surrounded By You" [...]
If there was ever a band and album that deserved the live treatment, it's White Denim and their jam-packed jazz-rock fusion record D . Thankfully, Jack White and his consistently tasteful Third Man Records imprint are ahead of the curve here. The Austin band cut 9 live tracks from D along with "Shake Shake Shake" and "Say What You Want" straight from tape to acetate with White as producer. There's no digital version of these recordings, so if you want to get your fix, head over to Third Man to purchase a piece of 12" [...]
Two more tracks have surfaced from analog synthesizer guru Alan Palomo's newest Neon Indian LP, Era Extraña . With the driving buzzsaw fuzz and swirly Atari 2600 -recalling blips of "Hex Girlfriend" and "Arcade Blues," Palomo again proves his distinctive ability to craft organic and hook-laden pop music out of the mechanical world of electronic frequencies and signals. The ever-dedicated Palomo also helped create his own mini analog synthesizer with Austin-based manufacturers Bleep Labs called the PAL198X, which you can preview in an acid-washed instructional video. Pre-order Era Extraña, out on 9/13, here [...]
JEFF The Brotherhood recently recorded a live set over at Sirius XMU. You can catch the whole performance the next time it airs via a free trial . Or below, you can download a live bongo and flanger-infused cut of the Nashville duo's "Diamond Way." In other news, brothers Orrall will be releasing a single produced by Jack White in October. The single, recorded in White's home recording studio, will be released as part of Third Man Records ' Blue Series and include the 6 and 1/2 minute "Whatever I Want" on the A-side and a [...]
One of our favorite new bands White Life plays in DC tonight at the Velvet Lounge. However, if you're not in DC, you can still watch the show via a live Ustream feed here . The festivities kick off at 9 with White Life taking the stage at 11. Tickest are just $8. See ya there. White Life - "I Want Love" (from White Life )
Ski Lodge is the project of multi-instrumentalist Andrew Marr, born not on a snowy mountain resort, but by the ocean side in West Palm, Florida. While Marr's heavily melodic and chord-free guitar play on "I Would Die To Be" recalls the style employed by the Beach Fossils, Marr's vocals take a more melodramatic and heart-on-the-sleeve turn that hint at years of late nights listening to The Smiths. Most importantly though, Ski Lodge delivers the hooks: light, feathery, and catchy as hell. The EP is out September 13th on Dovecote Records. [...]
The two tracks on So Many Wizards' new 7" respectively mirror the chaos and unease of spending time in a new city ("Inner City") and the ensuing moments of calmness and beauty experienced after finding comfort in a new home ("Best Friends"). The bumps of bass guitar, splashy cymbals, and falsetto-drenched vocals on the serene B-side "Best Friends" prove especially rewarding here, setting the listener down in an otherworldly and intoxicating Neverland—and you won't want to leave. The vinyl, out now via the Seven Inch Project , is pressed to clear vinyl and limited to [...]
Back in March , I wrote about Oregon Bike Trails: the sunny bedroom pop project of Santa Monica musician Zach Yudin. It's beautifully transportive summertime music: the kind that makes you think you can feel the sand between your toes, the sun on your back, and a cool breeze combing the air. Now, thanks to San Francisco's consistently great Father Daughter Records, Oregon Bike Trails will be releasing its first 7". The single features a remastered version of the jangly harmony-soaked "High School Lover" on the A-side and unreleased track "Cayucas" on the flip side. If you want your [...]
The Dum Dum Girls have released a second song from their forthcoming LP Only In Dreams . While "Bedroom Eyes" doesn't have the knock-out-of-the-park classic pop feel of "Coming Down," it's a damn fine track that again finds frontwoman Dee Dee Penny nailing that signature Chrissie Hynde vibrato and deep resonance. I've never been an enormous Dum Dum Girls fan, but these two tracks have made Only In Dreams one of my most anticipated LPs in 2011. Pre-order the vinyl, out on September 27th, over at Sub Pop . [...]
Releasing one of the year's best LPs in Sun & Shade apparently isn't enough for the ever-prolific Woods. Jeremy Earl and company also put out a 7" in July featuring the single "Find Them Empty" and now have a second 7" available on tour: a 5-song split with Kurt Vile. Check out one of Woods' contributions below: the fuzzy and psychedelic "Skull." If you're a fan of Woods, The Fader ran a great piece on the band's and the Woodsist label's current home-base in Warwick, New York. ( via )
I've slept on Dent May for a while now, but after watching this stellar acoustic performance of "That Feeling" (man, what a great bass line!), I'm 100% on this Mississippi cat's bandwagon. May's newest release is a 7" off Paw Tracks. "Fun" may be the A-side, but it's the sweet retro cheese of the B-side "Wedding Day" that has me hitting play over and over again. Pre-order the 7", due out September 13th, via Insound . Fun by Dent May [...]
Luke Temple previously hinted at his affinity for 1970s rock, specifically Harry Nilsson, in tracks like "Everything's Big" off his Here We Go Magic debut. On Temple's latest offering, his "country record" Don't Act Like You Don't Care ( which I raved about back in June ), those influences are brought out even more into the forefront in a batch of rootsy and raw-flavored folk. Replacing the sparkle and sheen of his effect- and samply-heavy Here We Go Magic project, Don't Act Like You Don't Care instead embraces the live and casual setting of friends sitting [...]
Yesterday, I caught a portion of the Handsome Furs ' 'Global Indie Mixtape' on Sirius XMU, and along with a couple heavy club bangers from across the pond, they played a track by Croatian post-punk band Paraf. I'm a sucker for foreign language sung songs—mostly because I dig the mystery of not knowing what a song is about—and I was particularly struck here by the androgynous almost Nico-like vocals of Pavica Mijatović. According to the group's Myspace , Paraf began as a punk band in 1977 and then in 1980 veered into post-punk territory after bringing on Pavica—who [...]
Baltimore's White Life —who've put out one of the best albums of 2011 in their self-titled debut—recently released a video for the single "Time Is Wasting." The track, which cherry picks from some of the more fun, danceable, and cheesy tones of the late 1980s and early 1990s R&B and pop scenes, is paired perfectly here with a silly and low-key video of frontman Jon Ehrens dancing his way through a breakfast of cereal and an afternoon of one-man tennis. Ehrens' sister Emily, who provides the track's backup vocals, appears as well, lackadaisically singing-along while reading the morning paper [...]
Portland avant-pop weirdos Nurses have released another single from their forthcoming Dracula LP, out September 20th via Dead Oceans. A funky syncopated bass line and a few lightly played piano chords form the basic foundation for "Trying To Reach You," a near Prince-like R&B turn colored with a psychedelic tapestry of erratic percussion, polyphonic vocal harmony, and innumerable other chirps and burps of effect-driven wizardry. The track also happens to be one of Nurses' more straightforward concoctions to date—a pop number that takes its hooks as seriously as its experimentation. Pre-order [...]
Mikal Cronin's been a big hit over here of late, from his colossally heavy David Bowie covers with Ty Segall to the blistering tracks from his self-titled psych-rock debut . Over on Cronin's Bandcamp, you can now download his "Gone" 7" released back in January of 2010 via Goodbye Boozy Records. That 7" features an excellent lo-fi and toothache sweet cover of The Troggs' 1967 single "Give It To Me" as its B-Side. Check out the cover and original below, then head to Cronin's Bandcamp for more jams from this up-and-coming talent. [...]
Girls' frontman Christopher Owens wrote "Honey Bunny" on his birthday back in 2008. According to NPR , it was the 19th song he'd ever written—and it's a pretty damn good one. The track features two contrasting sections and themes: an uptempo surf riff infused main section, where Owens laments about his girl trouble: I've been messing with so many girls / Who could give a damn about who I am / They don't like my boney body / They don't like my dirty hair / Or the stuff that I say / Or the stuff [...]
"Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" was Stevie Nicks' first single as a solo artist back in 1981. The track was written by Tom Petty and Heartbreakers' guitarist Mike Campbell and featured the entire Heartbreakers crew as Nicks' backing band. Although Nicks and Petty would collaborate on a number of songs—"The Insider," "The Apartment Song," "Needles & Pins"—"Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" would be their most successful, charting at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. The classic duet has been dug up this summer as an encore for My Morning Jacket's current tour with Neko Case, pairing the fiery red [...]
At first, "Montana"doesn't sound like anything special. A reverberating and resonant piano, hushed vocals—it's reminiscent of a live recorded studio outtake or a private home recording. Sweet and intimate, but not necessarily all that captivating. But then "Montana" becomes something else entirely. From the first chime of the track's synth delivered motif to builds of tambourine, bass drum, and electric guitar, a vast wall of sound forms arming that cathartic and introverted singing voice with a sledgehammer of crushing force. The song is by 22-year-old Trevor Powers, who records under the name Youth Lagoon . Powers' M.O. on his [...]
Since discovering their anthemic jam "Before The Bridge" via a Friends Records penned article , I've been digging through Future Islands' rich back catalogue of releases like a kid in a candy store. The combination of Samuel T. Herring's ravenous and throaty vocals with William Cashion's pulsating bass, and synth phenom Gerrit Welmers' arsenal of exotic goodies is a fiery and intoxicatingly mixed beverage. The type that when imbibed heavily will leave you in a hot sweaty mess of flailing limbs. The band's latest offering, "Balance," is no exception. Taken from the forthcoming On The Water [...]
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