A mysterious 14 year old girl named Birdy has been on repeat on my iPod in the past couple days. She delicately and beautifully covered Bon Iver's "Skinny Love ", and if you're not falling in love with her voice right away (which is kind of pedophile-ish, sorry), then something is wrong with you. Covering Bon Iver and pulling it off is hard to do, which she does effortlessly while playing the piano. There's something very raw and inviting about her vocals that trickles a sense of maturity in her innocent, youthful personality. I want [...]
Yeah you read that right. James Vincent McMorrow covers the best song from 2010, "Whip My Hair" by Willow Smith. Whilst the original was a carefully crafted and bangin' Hip-Hop tween-jam with lyrics presumably written by the geniuses behind Rebecca Black's "Friday", this cover is a fragile and crooked affair. In a somewhat similar vein it reminds me of Frightened Rabbit 's cover of Britney Spears' "Hit Me Baby One More Time", in that it's folk-driven and acoustic, but if you can believe this, it's actually better than the original. Crazy, [...]
![[Listen] – New Album By James Vincent McMorrow – “Early In The Morning”](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/3127539_lg.jpg)
Up until now the songs that I'd heard from James Vincent McMorrow 's new album "Early In The Morning" had been nothing short of exemplary. The album has been out elsewhere for nigh-on a year now but finally it's getting a release stateside on January 25th. Just before Christmas I did an introduction piece about him and posted the beautiful and James-Blake-meets-Bon-Iver song "If I Had A Boat", but now thanks to the dudes over at My Old Kentucky Blog you can hear a stream of the entire album before its release next [...]
Artist : Gayngs Hometown : Minneapolis, USA Members : Justin Vernon and Mike Noyce (Bon Iver), P.O.S (Rhymesayers), Dessa (Doomtree), Michael Lewis (Andrew Bird), Ivan Howard (The Rosebuds), Ryan Olson (Building Better Bombs, Digitata), Zach Coulter, Adam Hurlburt, and Shön Troth (Solid Gold), Joe Westerlund, Brad Cook, and Phil Cook (Megafaun), Maggie Morrison (Lookbook, Digitata), Jake Luck and Nick Ryan (Leisure Birds), Channy Moon-Casselle (Roma di Luna), Katy Morley, Danny Krzykowski Formed : [...]
You know when you hear a band or an artist and it instantly makes you pay attention within the first 10 seconds of your first taste of their music? No? Well I do.....it happens sometimes. Not often, but it happens. Coincidentally it happened to me with James Blake , just as it happened with Dublin's James Vincent McMorrow. Why is that coincidental? Well because they have the same first name! Actually, as much as that is true (it is), it's because even though they're on different spectrum of the musical rainbow, they're definitely similar, mainly in vocal range and [...]
![[Listen/Download] – New Album By Kanye West – “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy”](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/2993006_lg.jpg)
So Kanye's latest "masterpiece" came out yesterday (November 22nd) and the entire world is talking about it, even the people who have no idea who he is and think he's some kinda South American tree or something. Well, a certain online publication gave the album a perfect score of 10.0, basically proclaiming it as the greatest Hip-Hop album of all time, since it's the highest rating they've given to a Hip-Hop album. Or at least that's how logic should follow, right? Anyway, I gave the album its first listen a couple of days ago and whilst I was [...]
![[Listen/Download] – New Song By Kanye West feat. Bon Iver – “Lost In The World”](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/2855486_lg.jpg)
Even though it's all tagged up to shit and back, I'm really liking this new jam. I like auto-tune when it's well done and this I think uses it well, what with Bon Iver's use of it on the "Blood Bank" EP and Kanye's use on 808s (which I loved), but this is our first taste of the oft-reported "collaboration" between the two. Hopefully an untagged version shows up soon, because the fool who tagged this clearly doesn't know his dubya dots. Kanye West feat. Bon Iver - "Lost In The World"
![[Listen/Download] – Meridene – “Parade of Fools”](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/2783925_lg.jpg)
Wisconsin’s Meridene specialise in pounding drums, Strokes-esque guitars and rousing choruses. Their latest single “Parade of Fools” has a sense of hardwon optimism in the lyrics, leavening the catchy pop-rock hooks and crackling energy with a grown-up sensibility. The band has a new album, Something Like Blood , which was recorded in just four days at Bon Iver’s studio in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. It’ll be released through Amble Down Records on September 28th. Keep up to date with Meridene - [...]
Kanye kept his promise and delivered a brand new track for G.O.O.D. music Friday and he also made an announcement that him and Jay-Z will be dropping a mini album with 5 tracks titled "Watch the Throne" soon. This "Monster" track is track #2 on the album. Can't wait to get the whole thing in my hands. With 4 of the hottest (buzzing) rap artists out right now Jay-Z, Kanye, Rick Ross, and Nicki Minaj on one track this should appeal to wide variety of rap fans out there. New Music: Kanye West, Jay-z, Rick Ross, [...]
Midwestern adventurous indie group Gayngs have announced their fall tour dates. The band consists of 23 musicians, giving The Polyphonic Spree a run for their money. But really, this is like an actual supergroup as it features P.O.S., Justin Vernon and Mike Noyce of Bon Iver, and three of the guys from Megafaun among many others. On the upcoming fall tour, ten of the twenty-plus contributors that appear on Gayngs debut, Relayted , will be there, including Justin Vernon and Mike Noyce, ringleader Ryan Olson (Building Better Bombs, Digitata), Zak Coulter and Adam Hurlburt of [...]
![[Introducing] – Sunol](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/2753668_lg.jpg)
Whilst it won't hurt your chances of getting your music featured on this much publicised and raved about music site, one thing you can do to make it easier for to listen to your music is follow in the footsteps of Sunol. These motherfuckers are doing it right. A brief description that's not self-aggrandizing, a couple of links to listen to and download their music, and how much of it I can put up on here. That's all I need. The other thing they're doing right is the whole "making music" deal. If you visit their website you're [...]
Ironically Brusque Twins' songs are for the most part not brusque but actually pushing five minutes long and all the way up to three weeks long. They actually have a song that's three weeks long and it's insaaaaaanneeee. Ok, no, they don't. But they should. What they do have are a bunch of songs that are freely available and just waiting to be snapped up by a record label. At the moment it doesn't appear that they have one, although I'm sure there must be interest. They're a two-piece (Hollie Hensman and Derek George) from Montreal, Quebec [...]
![[Listen/Download] – Toro Y Moi – Leave Everywhere](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/2561465_lg.jpg)
As the unofficial frontman of the Chillwave movement, Chazzy Bundick has a reputation and role to keep up. He's supposed to push the genre forward, pioneer new artists who are up and coming in that genre and record a shitload more blissed-out and summery-time music that we can listen to right up until it starts getting snappy in October, then we can put on our Bon Iver records and wear our Christmas sweaters. Well, he's decided to not do that on his new single "Leave Everywhere". In fact, he's decided to strip it right down to his own lo-fi, surf-rock-inspired [...]
For their cover of Godley and Creme's "Cry", Gayngs paid visual homage to the soft rock duo's original video with one of their own. In addition to just about everyone in the Gayngs orbit, the clip also includes a cameo from Kevin Godley himself. Awesome for a dozen reasons at least, it also allows you to get a really good look at people you don't know without feeling like you're staring. For once!
Out of the dozens of Record Store Day releases unleashed last Saturday, Bon Iver and Peter Gabriel's split 73 was the one I lusted after most. The single featured Justin Vernon covering Peter Gabriel's "Come Talk To Me", a returned favor for Gabriel, who covered Bon Iver's "Flume" for his underwhelming covers album, Scratch My Back . Justin Vernon and co. give "Come Talk To Me" the typical Bon Iver treatment, giving it a fragile and lucid vibe that define what Bon Iver is all about. [...]
jj - "ceo birthday" A mysterious new jj track has surface, courtesy of Swedish label, Sincerely Yours . The label dropped this mp3 with only this message: " here's to those moments when the illusions of separation collapse and we are one, we are life. here's to bonds stronger than blood. cin cin. " (read more...) Bon Iver - "Come Talk To Me" (Peter Gabriel Cover) Out of the dozens of Record Store Day releases unleashed last [...]
Also, Justin Vernon speaking very openly about his decision to choose 1992's "Come Speak To Me," and how it felt to hear Gabriel's version of "Flume" for the first time. Goosebumpville. Should you be quick on April 17th, Record Store Day, you might be able to snag a copy of the limited split seven-inch featuring both songs, all courtesy of Jagjaguwar. Watch the video interviews with Gabriel and Vernon over at Stereogum . Bonus below. Peter Gabriel, "Flume" (Bon Iver cover) MP3 [...]
![[Listen] [Download] – New Song By Supergroup GAYNGS – The Gaudy Side Of Town](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/2428216_lg.jpg)
A supergroup of epic proportions, GAYNGS includes members of Solid Gold, Megafaun, Rosebuds, Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, P.O.S., Dessa, Mike Lewis, and Lookbook, amongst others. They've been releasing teasers for a few weeks now, short video clips on Vimeo and pictures, not really revealing much at all. Now we actually have some music to listen to that goes by the name of "The Gaudy Side Of Town" featuring Mike Lewis, Justin Vernon, and Zack Coulter and Adam Hurlburt from Solid Gold. It has Justin Vernon's distinctive vocal style and is sparse and dark. GAYNGS release their [...]
Peter Gabriel's relevance in the indie (or should I say "ternative" ) music scene has been present for some time now, especially with his style being replicated and name being dropped in quite a few Vampire Weekend songs and albums. But never has his presence been more felt than this past week, when his covers of Bon Iver's "Flume" and Arcade Fire's "My Body Is A Cage" were premiered on Stereogum . "Flume" finds Gabriel scratching the acoustic guitar and falsetto of Bon Iver, and instead belting the lyrics out in his own way- a little [...]
Eau Claire, Wisconsin resident, recognizable figure of local import, musician...no, it's not Bon Iver, but close! The offering at hand today is the reassuringly country-folk single "Somewhere South of Sunday" strummed for your enjoyment by self-described "author, humorist, speaker, singer/songwriter" Michael Perry , who was, by the by, Justin Vernon's mentor (I wasn't just baiting you). Perry isn't treading new ground, but he has nicely consolidated the traditions that make for enjoyable genre music of this stripe: deep vocals, lyrics alternating lament with self-consolation, the telltale mix of strumming punctuated by twangy finger-picking. It does what country-folk [...]
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MP3: Daft Punk – “Horizons” (RAM Japanese Bonus Track)
Listen to Daft Punk’s “Horizon”, the Japanese bonus track for Random Access Memories
Lil Bibby – IDGNF
