Radiohead put out the third set of remixes of their album today. I love Lone's take on Feral - the percussion and keyboard work that hits halfway through the song make this one of my favorite of the nine remixes released so far. I fell asleep through Pearson Sound Scavenger's - I think they forgot the melody, but I can get into the fickle high hats in Four Tet's version of Separator.
Bad Streethas been getting a lot of attention this summer and Twin Sister just premiered a painfully endearing video for it (directed by colorist/compositor Dan Devin). Twin Sister is an irresistibly dream-poppy five member band from Long Island. With two EP's under their belt (Vampire With Dreaming Kids(2008) and Color Your Life (2008), their following finally started picking up in 2010 with their single All Around and Away We Go, ranking at 59 on Pitchfork's tracks of the year. Their first album, In Heaven, is set to release on September 27th under Domino Records.
According to a conversation with Stereogum at this year's Pitchfork Festival, the content of the video is based on lead singer Andrea Estella's, childhood experience. The video features many family friends and emulates her neighborhood's long time tradition of throwing collabo-street parties. My heart is blushing.
A look back at All Around and Away We Go...
In an interview with Pitchfork, the members revealed they hope to achieve enough success musically to one day quit their day jobs at Edible Arrangements. So unless you have some twisted fantasy of this band showing up to your door with a basket full of flower-shaped fruit, show a little support to help them become fulltime musicians.
Flight Facilities just slipped out a preview of their new single, Foreign Language - the official release is set for this week, July 31st, through Future Classic. I'm looking forward to the epic remixes likely to spawn from this - word on the street Breakbot is already on the job. Speaking of, the Foreign Language Remixes set will be coming out August 29th.
French label Kitsuné's artist, Jupiter, is serving us with a tall, cold glass of juicy jams for what's left of these balmy summer days. The 24 minute mix tape also features Jupiter's recent collabo with old-school zouk band, Kassav, on Kass Limon.
(Zouk - Originates from the Caribbean, specifically the islands of Guadaloupe and Martinique. Kassav pioneered this genre in the 1980's in France, infusing French Creole with Caribbean elements. They peaked in the mid 80's as an international craze with their hit Yélélé. You'll recognize the style as the prototypical backdrop for a Carnival Cruise Lines commercial.)
St. Vincent (Annie Erin Clark)just debuted the first song from her third upcoming album, Strange Mercy [following Marry Me (2007) and Actor (2009)]. It is set to release on September 13th under 4AD. This Oklahoma born musician was originally a part of Polyphonic Spree after attending Berklee College of Music, moved on to tour with Sufjan Stevens, and has also worked alongside Beirut.
St. Vincent takes an introspective look at the lilting yet unpredictable nature of her songs with Denver Westword:
"I like when things come out of nowhere and blindside you a little bit. I think any person who gets panic attacks or has an anxiety disorder can understand how things can all of a sudden turn very quickly. I think I'm sublimating that into the music."
Grizzly Bear's producer, Chris Taylor, has taken on side project CANT and forged together this haunting melody with the help of Twin Shadow.The album will release under his own label, Terrible Records.
Normally I like to boost you up a notch to help get past the week's biggest hurdle - Monday. Today I'm feeling less charitable.
French producer Gesaffelstein (French, really?) supplies an aptly dark and industrial soundtrack for a film teaser featuring demonic-hipster-bike-crew, Ghostriders. One of Turbo Recording's newest artists, Gesaffelstein just dropped his latest EP, Conspiracy Vol. 2, this past week. The entire EP is equally as heavy - and I walk away from it feeling simultaneously turned on; scared; and stuck with a dull, throbbing need to dance.
Kisses also released their first EP Other Planets earlier this year that features some of their original tunes. Definitely worth checking it out if you haven't already done so here.
Amazing. Look at the previous weeks if you haven't been following and keep an eye out for two more tracks this summer. All of them are available for free download.
Enjoying the tension between her unapologetic sex appeal and the innocence of her requests - always the makings of a good friendship.
Friends just signed with Lucky Number Music and dropped this video a few weeks ago - definitely a good addition to the team. As far as the video goes, glitter will generally get my vote; I just wish I didn't feel like I was hopelessly trapped in a 70's lava lamp. There's a limit to the 'vintage' aesthetic and this video might've left it a few miles back as it precariously approaches the realm of 'hipster asshole'.
Lame vid or not, Friend Crush is a jam. I'm a fan.
With the help of director Saam Farahmand, Tom Vek takes a jab at the fashion world and what it considers "cool." Wonderfully expressive, though I think my lungs grew a shade darker from watching this.
One of the most in demand video directors out now, Farahmand has worked with the xx, Klaxons, and Simian Mobile Disco.
The first set included Caribou's take on Little by Little which you heard here. Radiohead released this second set as a preview. You can order the 12" vinyls from the website. They will continue to release these throughout the summer.
Night Drive Miami is bringing Body Language to the 305's beloved Electric Pickle tomorrow (Saturday, July 16th.)If you're in the area, come by! Open bar for vodka drinks 10-12.
Putting out jams since early 2007, producer/dj duo Aeroplane (Stephen Fasano and Vito de Luca), took nu disco to unprecedented nu heights. Thus it was no surprise hearts came crashing when they announced their split back in June of 2010. Their collaboration may have ended, but the music certainly didn't.
Shortly thereafter, Fasano created a pretty funny new persona called The Magician. In an interview with We Love DC, he described his solo style as "a mix of electronic disco, pop, 80's sounds, with a touch of Belgian humor." Since then, he's put out hour long Magic Tapes every month for the rest of the year, accompanied by some unforgettable remixes. (See his take on Lykke Li's I Follow Rivers, receiving so much attention in Europe, it's been chosen as the Prix de Diane Longines official promo video soundtrack.)
He gives away so much for free, he makes Goodwill look like a pyramid scheme - so support his work and see what tricks he has up his sleeve when he comes back to the US.
Here's his most recent Magic Tape 12. (Opens it with Jeremy Glenn's remixed New Life, if you remember that post from last June!)
We're freaking out over the announcement of Toro y Moi's, aka Chazwick Bundick, new EP Freaking Out set to drop September 13th through Carpark. To keep us from going over the edge, he's ameliorated us with a free download of Saturday Love. The love we have for this jam is good enough for any day of the week. We're also going to assume this was inspired by Rebecca Black's profound homage to another, very adjacent day of the week.
Freaking Out 01 All Alone 02 Freaking Out 03 Sweet 04 Saturday Love 05 I Can Get Love
Thievery Corporation's no newcomer to the game - for almost twenty years they've continued to refine their distinctively ethereal Árabe-Brasileira lounge aesthetic with the release of every album. In line with its predecessors, Culture of Fear makes you feel like you're clinking champagne flutes with international socialites while casually looking over the Mediterranean - way more chic than you actually are. Enjoy that fantasy while they're still at it; you can catch them on tour as they kick off the release.
Tracklist 01 - Web of Deception 02 - Culture of Fear 03 - Take My Soul 04 - Light Flares 05 - Stargazer 06 - Where it All Starts 07 - Tower Seven 08 - Is it Over? 09 - False Flag Dub 10 - Safar (the Journey) 11 - Fragments 12 - Overstand 13 - Free
This song is layered so intricately that Heap and Nick Ryan refer to it as "3D sound." Listen to it with headphones. Amazing experience - visually and auditoraly.
Reptar is an amazingly quirky band from Athens, Georgia. This past week they've joined the ranks of Edward Sharpe, Pete Yorn, and Active Child as members of Vagrant Records. They're rereleasing their EP on August 2nd and just put this great video out today (Sup, Rocky Horror Picture Show?)
OH, and they put this out about a week ago.
Summer Tour Dates
July 28 - Bardot - Miami, FL
July 29 - The Back Booth - Orlando, FL
July 30 - The Antiwarpt Fest - St. Petersburg
August 5-7 - Lollapalooza
US Fall Tour With Foster The People & Cults:
September 15 – House of Blues – Dallas, TX * ^ September 16 - Austin City Limits Music Festival -- Austin, TX September 17 – House of Blues – Houston, TX * ^ September 19 – House of Blues – New Orleans, LA * September 20 – Beacham Theatre – Orlando, FL *^ September 21 – Masquerade – Atlanta, GA *^ September 23 – The National – Richmond, VA *^ September 26 – 9:30 Club – Washington DC * September 29 – House of Blues – Boston, MA *^ October 1 – Sound Academy – Toronto, ON * October 2 – Newport Music Hall – Columbus, OH *^ October 4 – The Vogue – Indianapolis, IN *^ October 6 – First Avenue – Minneapolis, MN *^ October 7 - The Aquarium - Fargo, ND October 9- Showbox at the Market- Seattle, WA* October 10 - Commodore Ballroom - Vancouver, BC* October 15 - The Wiltern - Los Angeles, CA October 18 - The Wiltern - Los Angeles, CA * w/ Foster the People ^ w/ Cults
Incubus was, without a doubt, a defining band of the 1990's/early 2000's with brilliant albums like Fungus Amongus, S.C.I.E.N.C.E, and Make Yourself. They lost me after that, but they released this video back in spring and I definitely fell asleep on a great track. I'm a little hopeful this album might bring them closer to some of their former glory. The band needs to find a balance of evolving their sound while still keeping their audience on board. Easier said than done.
Album drops this July, you can pre-order it on their website. Allegedly those who pre-order will be sent a boatload of extra goodies, so there's some incentive to those old fans.
Brandon Boyd wrote some very eloquent, moving prose discussing the peaks and valleys of their success and struggles of their musical journey. Boyd reminds his audience this ride is a shared experience (pretty good marketing move.) You can read it here.
"...In the end, our creative instincts had pointed us in the right direction. It was a meandering compass, but a good one...most noteworthy because of it's uniqueness as an event that will never occur again. Waves have broken before it, waves will break afterwards, but each one is an individual canvas. This one is ours. Yours and mine."
I think we were so busy dancing in our living rooms to this that we forgot to tell you guys about it last week. Toro y Moi does some dirty, nasty, sexy things to Cut Copy. Enjoy.