Dana Janssen , percussionist for Akron/Family , plans to release his own album, Summer Bodies , in May under the name Dana Buoy . Janssen (or Buoy?) just released a song off that album, Call to Be . Reminiscent of Animal Collective, Janseen draws on African beats mixed with synthesizer. Check out the song below. Call To Be - Dana Buoy
Diamond Rugs is a band made up of two guys from Deer Tick plus members of the Black Lips, Los Lobos, Six Finger Satellite and Dead Confederate . The band plans a self-titled album in late April, and, according to its publicists, some of the songs on the release are being previewed at 50 strip clubs across the U.S. No reviews yet. Here's a video of the guys performing Gimme a Beer . The song can be downloaded at this website .
I'm still amazed at the Black Keys' rise to superstar status. These guys are playing the freaking United Center in March! I do like the song Gold on the Ceiling off El Camino . (I have a feeling I'll be sick of it soon enough, though.)
Here's a collaboration I can really get excited about: Ty Segall and White Fence (aka Tim Presley) plan to release a new album, Hair , April 28. What's more, these guys are heading out on the road together. The shows will feature separate sets and some songs played together. They hit Chicago's Lincoln Hall May 10. That show also features Presley's other band, the Strange Boys .
The Shins just premiered a new song on Record Store Day's website . September will be the b-side of a 7-inch release for Simple Song out next week. Check it out below. Simple Song and September will appear on the band's new album Port of Morrow , which is expected out next month. Simple Song by The Shins
Here We Go Magic just released a new song, Make Up Your Mind , the first track off a new album in May. A Different Ship is the band's third album. It's a catchy song with a choogling beat. The release date is May 8. Here We Go Magic - "Make Up Your Mind" by Secretly Canadian
It happened so quickly that I bet a lot of people missed it. But M.I.A . gave the finger to the Super Bowl crowd during her half-time performance with Madonna Sunday. It sounds to me like the word "shit" also got through the censors.
The Darkness is back and reportedly on the verge of releasing a new album. Check out the band's rockin' new video:
Cass McCombs put out two exceptional albums last year, the somber Wit's End and the more uptempo Humor Risk . I named both top albums in 2011. One of the more interesting singer/songwriters out there, he plays Lincoln Hall Sunday in what should be a very good show. McCombs previewed the song Mystery Mail (from Humor Risk ) at Pitchfork fest in 2010. Check out this video for the 2009 song [...]
Take a look at the new video for Brothers , a song from the War on Drugs' excellent album Slave Ambient .
This past week featured new albums by Cloud Nothings and the Hold Steady's frontman Craig Finn . Cloud Nothings' Dylan Baldi is taking a harder approach than his past offerings with the help of Steve Albini on Attack on Memory . Even though Baldi joked about Albini's influence in a recent interview, the producer's touches are clearly heard on singles No Future/No Past and No Sentiment . [...]
My introduction to Guided By Voices was the 1994 lo-fi release, Bee Thousand , and the following year's Alien Lanes . Both were great albums and I always felt that Robert Pollard's later offerings with different lineups didn't quite live up to the those mid-90s efforts. So I was thrilled to hear that years after retiring the band, he was putting the "classic" GBV lineup back together for a tour and-not one, but-two albums this year. The first of those albums, Let's Go Eat the Factory , is [...]
Just say no to drugs kids? Sacramento thrashers Trash Talk have a new, highly entertaining Jay Howell -animated video for Slander , a song from the band's 2011 EP Awake . The video is produced by Creature Skateboards, which is commemorating the collaboration with 400 Trash Talk skateboard decks. Jim Dirschberger directed the video.
Check out this cool new video from A Place to Bury Strangers . The visuals were produced with photos taken by frontman Oliver Ackermann. He created the video using an iphone app. The song, So Far Away , is from the forthcoming EP Onwards to the Wall (due out February 7) So Far Away - A Place to Bury Strangers
The reunited "classic lineup" of Guided By Voices just played a new song, The Unsinkable Fats Domino, on Letterman. The song is the first single off the band's new album Let's Go Eat the Factory . It features Robert Pollard's mid-90s lineup, which produced two of the best GBV offerings, Bee Thousand and Alien Lanes. After an initial listen, the new album sounds pretty good. More on that later. Nice recovery by guitarist Greg Demos, who took a spill on stage. It's certainly not the first [...]
With the Iowa Caucuses held Tuesday, the state remains at the center of the political universe for at least another day. In the closing hours of the Iowa race, Republican candidates try to one up each other to show who's the farthest to the right . A couple of Iowans made a pretty funny video, Iowa Nice , to rebut the image of the state as an ass-backwards pool of inbred hate mongers. The video below is the uncensored version. There's a clean version if you click here .
It's January in Chicago and that means Buddy Guy begins his monthlong residency at his Legends club in Chicago this week. The Saturday shows are sold out but there appears to be tickets available for some other nights. There's nothing like seeing Guy, one of the last of the truly great, old-times blues legends, play his own club. And where better to hear Sweet Home Chicago than on the city's south side (well, South Loop). From a Legends show: [...]
In case you missed it, here's a demo of a new song by The xx called Open Eyes .
In case you missed it, here's the new video from Panda Bear for the single You Can Count on Me . The song is off Tomboy , which is ranked No. 4 on my best albums list .
A good rule of thumb for making a year-end list: Ask yourself will you still play this album in a year or two? That thinking has me rating Thee Oh Sees higher than Tune-Yards on this year's best albums list. Even though WHOKILL is a really interesting album, Thee Oh Sees are just a whole lot more fun. Click here for the rest of the list , Nos. 21-40. Here's my top 20 of 2011 : 20. Ty Segall - Goodbye Bread: A much more refined offering than last year's scorcher Melted . [...]
All the Young Punks
![Panda Bear "You Can Count On Me" [Official]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/youtube/eoOv1tyWHe0_130.jpg)
St. Vincent - 'Cheerleader'
Jay-Z & Kanye West - Ni**as In Paris (Explicit)
OK Go - Needing/Getting - Official Video
Ladyhawke - Black White & Blue
First Aid Kit – Emmylou
Childish Gambino - "Heartbeat" (Official Music Video)
James Blake – Live Album
Mux Mool
