
Shlohmo, aka Henry Laufer brings a keen ear to the music he makes, using mostly found sound, fragile old gear and a laptop. In Shlohmo's own words: "The album was made suuuper lo-fi, most recordings were done through the audio-in port on my laptop, field recordings with the laptop mic or my ipod mic/recorder. a lot of synth sounds came from my roland sh201 and my dad's old roland jupiter 6, plugged straight into my laptop. all the noise was run from the headphone port out to these monitors that i've had since i was 14. the tweeters are all [...]

T op Album Release: December 2009 Nick's Top Tom Waits: Glitter and Doom Live Avi Buffalo: What's In It For? (73) Animal Collective: Fall Be Kind EP R. Kelly: Untitled Avi Buffalo- What's [...]

The Beatles' remastered box set on an apple-shaped USB device may be the year's most interestingly designed music release. The digital device contains 14 albums, 13 mini-documentary films, UK album art, and expanded liner notes. The most interesting new releases this week are on vinyl, notably The Dexateens' Singlewide and Tom Waits' Glitter and Doom Live . Reissues this week include three UK Pulp albums ( Different Class , His 'n' Hers , [...]
You may recall the band of brothers known as Starfucker took us to Jupiter this year on a seizure-inducing electro-rock brand of rocket fuel. Apparently, too many people had trouble telling friends and family they were going to check out Starfucker, with concerned grandparents wondering aloud: "Those homosexuals are everywhere!" So to avoid awkward parental conversations and perhaps due to the influence of their cover art and spectrum love, fans rebranded the group formerly known as Starfucker into Pyramid . Whether they are the $25,000 or the $100,000 version is yet to be [...]

It's been an exciting year for Portland, OR's favorite breakout band, Starfucker , and today is an exceptional day. Last month, just as the four-piece were poised to set sail on an extensive North American tour, they announced a name change contest that allowed fans to play a pivotal role in re-naming the band. After many votes and infinite good ideas , the guys have chosen PYRAMID as their new moniker. They will perform their last ever show as Starfucker at Portland's venerable Wonder Ballroom on Halloween, so if you have a hankering for [...]

Monday 6/22 * New York Dolls, Black Joe Lewis, Madison Square Gardeners @ Music Hall of Williamsburg ( MP3: "Trash" by New York Dolls) * Spinnerette, Band Of Skulls, The Gay Blades @ Bowery Ballroom Tuesday 6/23 * Ezra Furman & The Harpoons, Anni Rossi, Pearl & The Beard @ Pianos * Patrick Wolf, Living Things, Jaguar Love, Plastiscines @ Highline Ballroom ( MP3: [...]
Sylvester's Over and Over is by far one of my favorite classic dance tunes. Released in 1977 on Fantasy Records , the Ashford and Simpson penned anthem was a staple for D J Larry Levan and his faithful Paradise Garage acolytes. It too has found a permanent place in my nightly "party records" rotation. Of course with a singer of Sylvester's caliber, it is easy for the vocal performance to outshine the musical arrangement, but to me, the latter wins in [...]

Top Album Releases: May 2009 Nick's Top Clues: Clues Grizzly Bear: Veckatimest Phoenix: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix Jason Lytle: Yours Truly, The Commuter Black Moth Super Rainbow: Eating Us Ben [...]

Akron/Family Set 'Em Wild, Set 'Em Free Akron/Family - "River" from Drowned In Sound ..."For anyone (or everyone?) baffled by Animal Collective's dive into electronica, or finding Fleet Foxes too mannered, this is one way of getting back to nature that certainly isn't a weekend retreat." Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band Outer South Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band - "Nikorette" [...]

St. Vincent's sophomore album, Actor , is in stores tomorrow, and is already one of my favorite albums of the young year. Among the other releases already sent my way, I can definitely recommend Akron/Family's Set Em Wild, Set Em Free , Alasdair Roberts' Spoils , Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band's Outer South , Double Dagger's More , Horrors' Primary Colours , Patrick Watson: Wooden Arms [...]
Here are The Wheel's Still In Spin 's suggested new releases. An Horse – Rearrange Beds | CD Download "Postcards" (mp3) This Australian duo has released a strong debut full-length album. Kate Cooper's unadulterated vocals drive overtop of the 3-chord guitar rhythms and stop-and-go drumming. While the album starts out with some indie pop that may seem recognizably customary, the album reaches it best [...]
Here it is! After all the waiting! TEAM MOTU has really done a wonderful job creating a page for the new release. Check it out! Heres what you will find in this epic compilation: MOTU2 VOLUME 1 (60mb) 01 The Sound Of Arrows – M.A.G.I.C. 02 Transam – Transam Theme 03 Miami Horror – Don't Be On With Her 04 Worship – Lights Dome Part III 05 Rio BLasT – Rio [...]
Thursday, December 11 Bottle Up & Go @ Cake Shop / 8pm 152 Ludlow Street New York, New York w/ God Fires Man, The Bones Royal F riday, December 12 Gold Streets @ Rehab / 8pm 25 Avenue B New York, New York w/ Jupiter Deluxe Alina Simone + Takka Takka [...]
We know you love free music and this time we're not even going to make you wait for Friday. The Eels have a free EP available for download for one week only. Get all the details below: 10/21/2008 - FREE EELS EP DOWNLOAD / DELUXE BLINKING LIGHTS VINYL BOX SET: [...]

Nick's Top Albums Lykke Li: Youth Novels ( sample ) Xavier Rudd: Dark Shades of Blue ( sample ) The Faint: Fasciination ( sample ) Walkmen: You & Me ( sample ) Ra Ra Riot: The Rhumb Line ( sample ) The Stills: Oceans Will Rise ( sample [...]

EA Sports' FIFA series is one of my favorite games . (If only EA would consult me on ways to improve the game… sigh ). Nonetheless, the first bits of news about FIFA '09 have been announced and the soundtrack looks pretty damn good. In keeping with FIFA's international mandate, the game once again features tunes from all over the world (which is often a little forced). This time, however, electronic music dominates the playlist that's brimming with choice cuts from CSS , Cut Copy , MGMT , The Black Kids , [...]