Watch and Listen: Preteen Zenith - "Breathe"

I need more of this, as soon as possible.

Halasan Bazar - "Go Out In Joy"

Suddenly very pumped for something I knew nothing about five minutes ago. From Halasan Bazar's upcoming November album.

Awwwwwwww Yeah: Not the 1s - "Silverstein Status"

Cool, nostalgic, and unapologetic--just the way I like my rap. Not the 1s spit game and come out swinging to a catchy sample that keeps the song flowing without taking over. Everything works in harmony with each other.

News: Guided By Voices Announce New Album, R.E.M. Finally Break Up

Two somewhat shocking announcements today. One you may care about, one you may not. The one I think is most important is that Guided by Voices have announced a new album in their classic lineup. Let's Go Eat the Factory comes out January 1st, 2012. I had an inkling that this would happen, just based on how damn prolific Robert Pollard is. It's fitting that this album will be released on a day that I'm sure to have a massive hangover. I mean, that's how Pollard would want it. It's worth noting that with 21 songs, they may have gone back to doing songs of extremely short length. This is what made Guided by Voices so great in the first place, so we'll have to see whether this lineup can still bring the magic. They never did make a bad album, but Pollard's stuff afterwards has always been of suspect quality. The second is rather huge, and also quite unimportant to most people. R.E.M. broke up. Yeah, it should have happened 15 years ago, but hey, better late than never. Now if only we could get The Simpsons off the air, we'd finally be able to leave those 90's relics alone. Oh wait, Guided By Voices did just announce a new album, huh?

Beautiful: James Blake - "Not Long Now"

This day is gloomy. James Blake is gloomy. What a coincidence that on this day a new song from Blake's forthcoming EP Enough Thunder hits. "Not Long Now" is your pretty standard James Blake fare, in that it's fucking amazing. Lounge singer-esque vocals and electronic beats cascading out of darkness--signature stuff here. Also, pretty sure that I hear GLADOS in there. Cool collab, guys. Maybe we can get G-Man on the next record. 

  Enough Thunder hits October 10th.

Listen: Real Estate - "Easy"

Real Estate's new album is almost upon us. After hearing the first single, "It's Real," my excitement for this album went through the roof. So it was a nice bed time surprise to get the pleasant opening track "Easy" right before heading off to sleep. Gonna dream good dreams tonight. Hit the jump for "Easy," and also to get a refresher of "It's Real."

Days comes out October 18th.

Kick to the Balls: Lost Boy - "USA"

Lost Boys - "USA"
Hearing this song the first time was an unexpected blast of excitement on this gloomy, but not too dreary day. The harsh guitars tease the listener into what is really a bittersweet national anthem. "Talk like an idiot, but act like you know" is a lyric I think everyone can get behind. This is also a pretty good drinking song. Or, maybe it's the worst.

Seriously Disturbing: David Lynch - "Good Day Today"

First thing's first. It's been a long time since I last updated. Well, now with classes and work picking up, expect this blog to as well. I know that seems weird, since, you know, I didn't really have anything to do this summer, but what can I say. I got lazy.

So now to pick us back up, something that completely misrepresents the sound this blog goes for. David Lynch is making music. He's got an album, Crazy Clown Time, coming in a few months. I have honestly ignored this so far. I don't know why. I love Eraserhead (in the only way that you really can like Eraserhead) and Blue Velvet, but I wasn't interested in giving him a shot. That changed with the video up above, which has been out for 7 months. Why am I just now seeing this? Probably because I didn't have a blog 7 months ago, but I digress. It is a seriously fucked up video, in that good old David Lynch way (even though Arnold de Parscau directed it). But what's more, the song is actually good. It's not really my sound, but it's got solid dark electronic hooks running through it. But really, the video. That's the star. Still, highly interested in experiencing the nightmares this album gives me when it releases on November 8th.

Listen: Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks - 'Mirror Traffic' (Not L.A. Guns)

Silver Jews leader/badass David Berman posted this on his blog on Friday, and it may be the best thing I've ever read. Apparently Stephen Malkmus toyed around with the idea of calling his new album L.A. Guns, like the 80s hair metal band. What followed was a long discussion between record executives and lawyers that created such a headache Malkmus decided instead to go with the less awesome Mirror Traffic. The best line is from Berman to Malkmus, re hair metal bands:

These headbangers are angry and vindictive.
They've been looking for revenge since '92
and let's face it--
you weren't far from the scene of the crime.

You can listen to Mirror Traffic over at NPR.

MP3: TwinSisterMoon - "Trailer"

TwinSisterMoon - "Trailer"
The first I've ever heard from TwinSisterMoon is this song, "Trailer." Coming from a reissue of Then Fell The Ashes... the song gets all charms from a child-like hum and slow guitar picking. It never picks up, rocks out, or even changes form much, but it does bring any and all sentimentalities to the forefront of one's mind.

Streaming: DOM - Family of Love EP

Bedroom garage rocker DOM's star has been increasing since he released his debut EP last year, but expect that to keep growing if the quality of his new EP, Family of Love is any indication. It's good. I feel comparisons to Ariel Pink will be made by almost everyone, but this isn't a bad thing. The production on the new material has been maximized and cleaned, all without comprising the pop charms engrained in the songs. Above you can hear short previews of each song, and to hear the whole thing just head over to Spin. The EP's official date of release is August 9th.

MP3: Amen Dunes - "Christopher"

Amen Dunes - "Christopher"
With all the directions one can go in the spectrum of lo-fi recordings, it's nice that Damon McMahon (aka Dunes) feels comfortable with stripping his music down to two warbled guitars and a twisting vocal track, as evidenced by "Christopher." The fragile psych-pop song comes from his curiously-titled second LP , Through Donkey Jaw which hits August 16 through Sacred Bones Records.

Listen: Flying Lotus - "Code of EthNics 2"

Code of ethNics 2 by Flyinglotus

Recently, Flying Lotus has been updating his Soundcloud page with songs from his past that he has hidden away (presumably in a gold-covered walk-in vault of some kind). Today, we get this treat: the instrumental version of Jose James' "Made For Love." I'm not much of an r&b fan myself, so FlyLo's production stripped of James' croon makes it even better. Be prepared, people, this is sexy-time music.

Listen: Widowspeak - "Nightcrawlers"

Ever since my high school infatuation with Kim Deal, and subsequently, the Breeders, I can't resist a good chick vocalist digging into the rockier side of things. "Nightcrawlers", a quick and cool cut from Widowspeak's debut album hits all the right points. Hope to hear more of this on August 9th when their debut LP hits.

MP3: Gauntlet Hair - "Top Bunk"

Gauntlet Hair - "Top Bunk"
One of the best bands I found last year via blogs was Gauntlet Hair. With hard edged songs like "I Was Thinking" and "Out, Don't..." this is the kind of band you can't afford to not pay attention to. Some of these bands that you hear in the blogs though, you never hear from ever again. I was pretty pumped to wake up to not only a new song, but debut album release info too. Above is the high minded "Top Bunk". Glad to hear they haven't deviated from their sound, which I feel is still pretty fresh. Is he yelling? Is he singing? Oh who cares. The self-titled debut comes out October 18th, and I, for one, am stoked.

Listen: Girls - "Vomit"

Girls - "Vomit" (via onethirtybpm)
Missed that whole Monday restart thing by a good two days. Whatever. Was forced to come out of lazy retirement because of a new song by Girls. The first song, "Vomit" previewed by Seattle radio station KEXP, eschews the light pop sounds of their first album and attains a much harder edge. My guess would be that this is one of the many styles that will be present on the new album. Their debut had scattered influences ranging from 50's rock n' roll to shoegaze, so I wouldn't be surprised to see attempts at an even more diverse range of sounds. Father, Son, Holy Ghost is due for release on September 13th via True Panther.

Come Back in a Week!

Unintentionally took last week off. But it's okay, there wasn't a whole lot last week to really groove on. Anywho, been feeling a bit burnt out as of late, and with the Pitchfork Music Festival coming up, I've decided to officially (and intentionally) take this week off as well. Is this a very professional move? Absolutely not. But I'm just a 22 year old manchild who isn't getting paid for this, so I don't think I have to worry about that yet. Come back next Monday, the 17th, to continue listening to awesome new music and reading my derivative opinions.
For now, I leave you with Radiohead's Live From the Basement recording. They play all of The King of Limbs, which seeing as how they don't seem to be planning a tour any time soon, might be your only chance in the near future to see these songs performed. Also on there is new song "The Daily Mail," which sees Radiohead return to a more rocking out sound, and the previously blogged "Staircase".
See you guys next week!

Review: Memory Tapes - Player Piano

Memory Tapes - "Wait in the Dark"
This year Memory Tapes and other Chillwave acts have somewhat of an uphill battle when it comes to achieving the same level of acclaim that they received two years ago. The interim between releases from these artists for a year or two naturally quieted the hype for future material and made room for other trends. Now that Memory Tapes (aka Dayve Hawk), Washed Out, and Neon Indian are all putting releases out for this year, the guys who kicked off its genesis have to prove that they as artists aren’t limited by a sound or brand, and that they can subtly push Chillwave in a progressive direction, much as Portishead and Massive Attack accomplished with Trip-Hop.

Listen: Cities Aviv - "Coastin"

I freely admit that I don't cover as much hip-hop up here as I would like to. While it may or may not surprise you, I do like hip-hop. Thing is, a song either hooks me as soon as I hear the first beat or it doesn't at all. I thrive off thoughtful samples and a certain elegance to the pacing. Requisites like these may it hard to like much of the hip-hop coming out these days, but "Coastin" has all that. Cities Aviv raps about how he's sailing to the top of hip-hop, if only just because there's no one to stand in his way, and ravishing motown strings back up the free floating imagery. While this song doesn't seem to be part of any future release for Cities Aviv, you can grab older releases at his bandcamp (all free), such as his latest album, Digital Lows.

MP3: Velcro - "One Day" (demo)

Velcro - "One Day" (demo)
Talk about coming out of nowhere. Curtis Wakeling (Velcro) has nothing to his name. Look for him on the internet and you won't even find a bandcamp. Hopefully he has things in the pipeline because this demo he recently released is pleasant, to say the least. If "Leave Me Be" by the Zombies took a day off to ponder its life, it would probably sound like this breezy daydream of a song.

MP3: Purling Hiss - "Voices"

Purling Hiss - "Voices"
Oh yeah, take a look at the sweet cover art for Purling Hiss' new EP Lounge Lizards. Right off the bat, you can figure out a few things about the band, most notably being that they seem to be eating and breathing early 90's lo-fi rock. And that's basically what you get. The fuzzed out guitar snarl demands deep respect as it drowns frontman Mike Polizze in an ocean of distortion. Grab the EP over at Mexican Summer.

Watch: L'Espace - "Caroline Goodbye"

Unlike the display frame of the video suggests, "Caroline Goodbye" is not a very risqué affair, but it is sexy. Sexy in that kind of sad, regretful way. Never experienced that? It's the best. Building to an elegant finish of old travolta movies and people getting shot in the head, it's a pretty cool watch. You can grab the song and the rest of L'Espace's debut EP by heading to their bandcamp. (It's free!)

Listen: Tobacco - "Streaker" (Demo) feat. Notrabel

As Black Moth Super Rainbow are getting ready to tour in the fall, they've also been busy in the studio working on a new album. This is after their last, Eating Us, and frontman Tobacco's latest solo effort, Maniac Meat. Both were solid efforts, especially the solo work, but it started to feel like that was as far as their formula of spooky-vocoder-vocals and synth riffs would take them. Fortunately for us, as they make progress on recording, they'll be posting rough demos of upcoming songs, remixes, and whatever else on their soundcloud. The song above, "Streaker" is the first brand new song from them in a while. At first it sounds like a usual Tobacco song, drowned in grime with the synths no where to find, but this is a Tobacco song, you're going to get those synth kicks. Sure enough, they're there, only this time it sounds like they have an entire power grid charging their raw sludge. This is about as intense a song that Tobacco has ever produced, and that's saying something. In the end, the song is not some crazy departure from their other material, as it still falls into the earlier formula, but with those "dont give a fuck" synths, it's really hard to care.

Listen: Slime - "Next Time"

As the sound cloud below's waveform might indicate to you, "Next Time" from Slime's debut EP, Increases, has two halves. The first is a soothing woodwind duet building itself up amongst increasing trickles of digital craftiness. In the second half, these trickles explode into a beautiful tunnel of distorted echoes. Increases is available today via Tough Love.

MP3: Björk - Crystalline

Björk - "Crystalline"
There is a certain amount of expectation with Björk these days. While still makes rewarding music, fairing much better than many of her late 1990's contemporaries, at the same time she still hasn't managed to obtain the stylistic unpredictability of that other electronic-infused rock act of the era, Radiohead.

At first listen, "Crystalline", the first official song released off her upcoming album, Biophilia, that same similar feeling that only Björk can produce. Lots of vocal layering, with Björk never failing to show off her range, and basic electronic dance beats. It's your usual Björk song, and wont change any minds who have already given her music listens in the past. For those who have jumped on the Björk train a long time ago, it does offer a welcome surprise. With just 50 seconds left, the song erupts into glorious Aphex Twin-inspired IDM not heard since...well, when was the last time you heard a new Aphex Twin song? This is not a new sound, by any means, but it is one that has fallen by the wayside in recent years due to the rise of dubstep and house and I can't say I haven't missed it. Biophilia comes out September 26th, and as with any Bjork record, it will be an interesting one.

Wrapping Up the Week: Radiohead, a Radio Show, and Other Thoughts

Yes, Yorke is kind of a political-douche in the beginning
This friday night, I am writing this post instead of going out and laughing it up. But don't be afraid, dear friends. I am still laughing. This 6 pack is making sure of that, but tonight I got a kick I rarely get-- Radiohead rocked out, for a fleeting moment, and it feels like who knows how long since they've done that.

Today Radiohead announced they would play glastonbury just hours before they went on stage. Honestly, their setlist was made up almost entirely of King of Limbs and In Rainbows songs. Not terrible, by any means, but not what you reaaally want them to play. I respect the  new material, and I welcome it into their discography, but I still miss the old stuff, I suppose. And today "Daily Mail" filled that need. What used to be a slow churner, solo piece, is now a fully formed Radiohead song, complete with a musical climax that was last seen on Hail to the Thief. Mainly, it's obvious these guys still have the heart for this, and that's what counts, right?

Okay, now that I'm done with the Radiohead plug (honestly, they don't happen very often), hit the jump to find out some news about the blog, and a small announcement you may or may not care about.

MP3: Heems (of Das Racist) - "Womyn aka Hitch demo"

Heems - "Womyn aka Hitch demo"
Alright, I'll admit up front. I never really gave Das Racist the time of day after "Combination Pizza Hut And Taco Bell". It was funny, for sure, but a one time listen--other than when I just now listened again because it's been a year since I heard it originally, and I'll admit, this time it works for me. "Womyn" is a little different. It's still funny, but even better, it's hilarious. The first time my ears heard "LAYDEESSS!" I realized I actually hear this shit in real life, every day, from real people. Bro-dudes literally say that. But there's more to this song than humor. This is an accurate account of a male's attitude on women. Our viewpoint on them can be simple, naive, stereotypical, religious, wishful, and condemning. Usually it's a combination of most of those. To back up all the jokes and meanings-within-jokes, is a charming vocal melody which is the spine of the entire song, and helps lift it up out of male wonderings. Best line:

"Yo women, they like to take showers, and when they let you take it with them, it's really awesome."

Yes it is, friend. Yes it is.

Watch: Siriusmo - "“Scream once a week”

As the grainy, handpainted house comes into view, the electronic undercurrent pulsates. Then...it gets weird. A heavily synthetic, almost dance piece, belongs to a beautiful, if nonsensical video. Siriusmo, a London native who's been doing small singles and other remixes for sometime now, released a full-length earlier this year called Mosaik that somehow slipped past me. Never a better time than the present to catch up on good music though.

Watch: Vitamins - "The Disappearance of David Lee Powell"

Heavy on the reverb, Vitamins' new song is heavy on psychedelic grunge that for a few fleeting seconds, flirts with the idea of pop. Ultimately it remains a heavy song, visualized extremely well by shots of driving turned into a hellish landscape with a few cheap camera tricks. If you look up David Lee Powell, you'll hear the story of a Texas prisoner executed last year for murder, only after becoming a model inmate and much protests to his execution, so it's fitting that the song isn't some light affair. The song is from Vitamins' No Notion of Anything Only Whatever Is What 7" available through Hot Congress Records.

Watch: U.S. Girls - "If These Walls Could Talk"

Weird video, weird song. Okay, I guess the song isn't weird so much, but the nasally sounding vocals produced by U.S. Girls' Meg Remy sound as if they could invent a whole genre called Nag-Pop. But it's not naggy as much as it sounds ragged, which is a feeling conveyed in the video as Remy changes from mascara-running fits of anxiety, to...well, it kind of looks like she's taking a poop in some of these shots. What can I say, this is your go to blog for cheap immature shots of constipation faces. The song is included in a 12" split with Slim Twig, available August 16th in North America.

Watch: Radiohead - "Staircases"; "Daily Mail" to come soon.

If you've ever grown tired of Radiohead's eight LP's, then you have no doubt probably ventured into their many b-sides. These b-sides range from elegant movements and acoustic works that would fit perfectly on any album, to haunting ambient pieces and spastic creatures that wouldn't seem to fit comfortably on any official Radiohead release. Hell, they even have a Dick Dale-inspired surf rock jam. And it's great.

Listen: Brian Eno - "Bless This Space"

Brian Eno - bless this space (taken from Drums Between The Bells) by Warp Records

As a teaser for Drums Between the Bells, Brian Eno's streaming two new tracks from the album on his website. And "Bless This Space" is a weird one, folks. Under a recitation of Rick Holland's words, Eno creates an electronic/krautrock bed of noise that eventually (d)evolves into guitar squall and clattering drums. Maybe an acquired taste, but it's got me counting the days before the album drops (there are 21 of them).

Listen: So Many Wizards - "Best Friends"

Best Friends - SO MANY WIZARDS by INDIGENOUSPromotions

So I'll be honest: When this track was dropped in my inbox this morning, I really only gave it a chance because of the band's name. I'm glad I did, however. The L.A. group describes themselves as "dreampop," which is not far off the mark. "Best Friends" is reminiscent of an updated Mercury Rev, with its meandering piano lines and falsetto vocals. It's out on 7" w/ "Inner City" June 28th via the Seven Inch Project.

MP3: Gross Magic - "Sweetest Touch"

Gross Magic - "Sweetest Touch"
I feel "Sweetest Touch" hit the internet today and immediately exploded. And it's easy to see why, when the song does some exploding of its own. Gross Magic's bandcamp lists a bevy of influences, but the clearest one (or maybe just the one I'm the most stoked on) is a strong whiff of Nirvana's punchy riffs. It's good fun, and it's just one of 5 songs off their Teen Jamz EP, set to release on August 3rd. You can preorder the EP on the aforementioned bandcamp.

Kathleen Hanna (Bikini Kill, Le Tigre) revives the Julie Ruin, is set to kick ass

Kathleen Hannah is one of those icons of indie rock that doesn't actually seem to get the credit she deserves. No one really waits in the corners with baited breath for her return, but people pay attention when she comes out with something. Luckily for her, she's returning soon with an old late-90's project of hers, The Julie Ruin. Above is footage of them playing in NYC last December. They've been very actively lately recording, a new album is due out next January. Here's hoping they can still kick it like we all know they can.

Listen: Majical Cloudz (feat. Grimes) - "Dream World"

Majical Cloudz (feat. Grimes) - "Dream World"
As I just start getting into Grimes (a teeny bit late to the party but whatevs) this comes out of nowhere. Definitely has that weird off-kilter catchiness to it that Grimes does so well. It's off a tape from Majical Cloudz titled II. I'll be giving this a listen soon to see what they can do on their own, so here's hoping. You can also download the album (donations encouraged) at Arbutus Records.

Listen: Soft Powers - "A deathly lit ballroom (in her birthday​-​suit)"

Soft Powers - "A deathly lit ballroom (in her birthday​-​suit)"
I can't listen to this song and not immediately think of Portishead's first album, Dummy. That, my friends, is a very good thing. It's creepy, and chilled on ice. Like all of my favorite drinks. Tragically, there doesn't seem to be many more songs from Soft Powers. Their bandcamp just consists of this one song, but their myspace contains a few more. Hopefully something concrete comes of these guys soon.

Listen: Trouble Brooks and Mark McGuire - "Song for Reinier Lucassen's Sphinx"

Trouble Brooks and Mark McGuire - "Song for Reinier Lucassen's Sphinx"
First thing's first; if you haven't had Emeralds invade your eardrums yet, please go seek out their latest album Does it Look Like I'm Here. While you're doing that, have a listen to this song by Mark McGuire (one half of Emeralds) and husband-and-wife duo, Trouble Brooks. Note that the first 45 seconds are identical to most of Emeralds' signature sound of synth and spacey guitar instrumentations. Here, it's expanded thanks to the vocals of Trouble Brooks. It's nice to see the 80's computer vibes expanded like this, and thankfully, there's a whole LP due from these guys. You can grab it over at Bark and Hiss.

Listen: John Talabot - "Lamento"

If you've followed this blog for any length of time, you've probably realized that I'm not too big into strictly electronic sounding music, but occasionally there is the rare exception. In this case it's "Lamento," off John Talabot's recently released EP, Families. It sort of bridges the gap between house music and pop, so I'm intrigued. I'm going to check out the rest of the EP, and you should too. It's already out now by way of Young Turks.

Watch: La Secte Du Futur – "Feel like the Devil"

A rad, intense song with equally bewildering footage to accompany it--my favorite. Not much to be found of La Secte Du Futur. For now you can find a few other songs at their myspace. Hopefully something else pops up soon.

Listen: Thundercat - "Daylight"

Thunder - "Daylight"
It's been known for a short time that Flying Lotus-protege Thundercat (aka Stephen Bruner) was coming out with a debut LP produced, unsurprisingly, by FlyLo himself. A first small taste came in the form of a groovy cover of a George Duke song, "For Love I Come." An excellent song, to be sure, but with it being a cover, it wasn't exactly showing off Thundercat's ability to write a completely original tune. This is no longer the case, as a new song off the album was released today. "Daylight" cuts right down to the jib of Thundercat's retro-funk vibe. With the key lyric being "open your mind," it sounds like the record will have no shortage of psychedelic charms. This is one to look forward to. The Golden Age of Apocalypse (I am in love with that album title) comes out August 30th via Brainfeeder.

Listen: Slime - "First Cape"

Slime - "First Cape"
As I was finally coming to the end of my RSS feed for the day in the search of new music, it all came down to this one. At this point, after having gone through 50+ songs and videos, I usually give a song mere seconds to make an impression. I mean, I have other stuff to do. This is a hobby dammit. So color me surprised when the first seconds of Slime's "First Cape" were, simply put, serene. Then Will Archer's (Slime's) falsetto comes in, followed by hallways filled with ghostly voices. The song keeps the serenity, and adds a little bit haunt to it. But that's not the impressive part--a minute and a half in, a beat comes in. A strong beat. If this were any other song, I'd consider it a negative aspect, but Archer (who, being 19, makes this even more impressive) knows how to tastefully implement such a device, and aptly moves in and out of it. Slimes has a debut EP called increases coming out on June 27th via Tough Love Records, and it has instantly become something I'm looking forward to hearing. Also, props to yourstru.ly for the premiere of this song.

Listen: Twin Sister - "Bad Street"

Twin Sister - "Bad Street"
I have to admit, I've been pretty lukewarm about Twin Sister up to this point. When they first entered the scene, I definitely took notice to their unique sound. Unfortunately, I thought that sound was a little mixed on their debut EP, as if they couldn't decide if they wanted to do dreampop, glitzy dance stuff, or just be a funky Beach House. You can never pass final judgement on a band based off one EP, however, so I've wisely waited till the come out with a proper debut LP to see if they will click further. I say wisely because the first taste of the new announced album In Heaven, is foot-tapper "Bad Street", and it definitely hits the potential I heard from them in the beginning. It's funky and concentrated. The album comes out September 27th via Domino.

Watch: Memory Tapes - "Yes I Know"

Awww yeah, now we're getting into the weird stuff. First, this is a brand new song off Memory Tapes' new LP, Player Piano. So that's something right there. And the song is an interesting. It's clear with this song, and others released from the album, that Dayve Hawk is intending to move beyond the dance-chillwave nature of his last album into something a little more substantial. Not a bad move, especially since he's sort of come full circle with music made under his Memory Cassette moniker, which I always enjoyed quite a bit more. And past the song, there's the elephant in the room. This song is fucking weird. It's not really gruesome, but it definitely does some slicing and dicing with the human body. Sort of reminds me of when Dr. Manhattan first transformed into an ubermensch, only, like, reverse. Yeaaahh. Player Piano comes out July 5th via Carpark.

Watch: Balkans - "Flowers Everywhere"

This band completely slipped past my radar, I will admit. But sometimes all you need to get my attention is a catchy song and a video with a...unique color palette. Videos like these are easily made, but when done right, that's part of the charm. And the song just kicks. Strong rock hooks make the whole thing. It's from Balkans' self-titled debut LP, which came out May 10th. See? Radar slippage. You can stream the rest of the album over at the fader.

Bjork is weird; listens to her own music while driving

As I get back into the swing of the music blog thing (sorry for the week off, lol), this one popped up out of no where and I felt compelled to post it, if only to let anyone who follows this blog know that I am still intent on writing for it. Bjork teases some new music off her new album Biophilia, while driving. Look there's even some hot wiper action! The song is apparently called "Crystalline" and it should get an official release later this month. Biophilia, on the other hand, comes out presumably sometime this year, and is a multimedia project that will be released as an album, but also an iPad app. It's already been announced that Michel Gondry will direct a music video for one of the songs, so it's very nice to see him go back to his roots. The whole thing is pretty...bjorkish, if you ask me. Nothing wrong with that, however.

Watch: Fishing - "Water Sport"

This is one of those breathtaking clips where audio and visual work in perfect tandem with each other. I don't even want to ruin the clip for you, so go ahead and watch. The chilled, electronic sounds of Fishing do fit well, and you can hear more from Fishing by visiting their website or by going to their bandcamp to hear a charming quasi-tropical piece, "OOOO."

Listen: The Coathangers - "Trailer Park Boneyard"

The Coathangers - "Trailer Park Boneyard"
All girl punk band, The Coathangers, are set to release their third album, Larceny & Old Lace, on June 7th, and earlier last week they gave away a taste of it in the form of this fiery charged song, "Trailer Park Boneyard." It's a classic sound that is always enjoyable when done right, and it's definitely done right here.

Watch: Justice - "Civilization"

So apparently we didn't kill off the bison in the 19th century. In fact, it was ancient statues falling from the cosmos. At least, that's what this totally rad video by Justice seems to say. Who'd have thought?

Listen: Ghibli - "Brahman"

Ghibli - "Brahman"
Any artist sampling classical tunes and still keeping some of the integrity of the samples themselves can get a nod from me any day. With "Brahman", hip-hop sampler extraordinaire Ghibli crafts an elegant and textured song, with only the faintest hint that it's supposed to be danceable. His new album, Pythia, apparently dips into the same wealth of samples, so I'm highly interested to hear the rest of the tracks. Pythia drops on the 28th of June digitally, and on casette the next week via Wonder Beard Tapes.

Stream new Cults, Black Lips, Seapony

Cults - "Abducted"
Black Lips - "New Direction"
Seapony - "Dreaming"
Lots of potentially satisfying albums have popped up for streaming this week. First is Cults' debut self-titled album, which promises to have many of summer's anthems. You can hear it through NPR's First Listen. The album lands proper on June 7th via Columbia. Then there's the always rowdy Black Lips with their third LP, Arabia Mountain. That can be heard over at Grooveshack, and the actual album also drops June 7th, via Vice. Finally there's the sunshined twee-poppers, Seapony, and their debut, Go With Me, which is streaming below just after the jump. That one officially hits in just a few days, on May 31st through Hardly Art.

Watch: Saint Vincent - "Kerosene" (Big Black Cover)

Last weekend there was a concert at New York's Bowery Ballroom that featured fourteen current indie bands covering the thirteen seminal DIY bands featured in Michael Azerrad's Our Band Could Be Your Life. Among the highlights is this cover of Big Black's "Kerosene" by Saint Vincent. Watch the video above (which features Dirty Projectors members backing her up), or stream the entire concert over at NPR. Oh, and if you haven't read Azerrad's book, do yourself a favor and borrow/buy/steal it.

Watch: Gidge - "For Seoul, pt II"

It feels as if at any moment, this song could turn into a bumping piece of dance-pop, but luckily it stays within its eerie confines, somewhere between Boards of Canada and music from Blade Runner. Working with ghostly images, the entire video is well-suited for the weather surrounding Arkansas. Perhaps too well-suited, really. Not much info on Gidge. Only thing I can find is their myspace which hosts only one remix and the information that the two men involved, Jonatan Nilsson and Ludvig Stolterman, are located from Northern Sweden. Hopefully more pops up soon.

Listen: Thundercat - "For Love I Come"

Thundercat - "For Love I come"

Thundercat, who up until now has best known for his affiliation with Flying Lotus, is getting his own debut album soon, and earlier this week he gave us a taste with the retro funk cover of Geoge Duke's "For Love I Come". If the rest of the debut, entitled Golden Age of Apocalypse, is anything like this, I'm sold. And with a title like that, I can't help but think of sweet 70's Apocalyptic bass lines that are sure to come along.

AUX ARC

My friend Marshall Trotter has been bursting at the seams with pop gems for years under the moniker Aux Arc. A couple of days ago he finally released a short-player consisting of 6 of said gems for free on bandcamp. "Put It On, Pancakes" should actually be titled "Put It On, In My Brain All Day Long".

New Atlas Sound - "Cherry Incognito"

Because Deerhunter leading man, Bradford Cox, can't go a day in his life without making an album worth of songs, he's going to need to share these songs at some point. At Animal Collective curated festival ATP in England, that's exactly what he did. He starts off by describing the song as "quiet" and "mellow". Which if you've ever heard Atlas Sound, you know to be huge departures from his regular sound. (god I hope you picked up on that sarcasm) It's a nice slow burner of a tune, and I look forward to seeing what it becomes in the future.

Gorilla vs Bear announces music festival

In a fairly surprising announcement, rising Dallas-based music blog Gorilla vs. Bear has announced their very own music festival this summer. Featuring the likes of Shabazz Palaces, White Denim, Pure X, and other smaller acts, it's all taking place at the Granada Theater on July 23rd. Given that ticket prices are just $24, I'm very much thinking about going to this one, if for no other reason than to support festivals that aren't Lollapalooza or Bonnaroo. Buy tickets here.

Catching Up: 7 Favorites from Last Week

Alrright. Sorry about the lack of updates from this side of the Colossal camp. No excuses though. None, in fact. Instead I'm just going to share my favorite finds of the week with the promise that updates will be more consistent in the near future. The following aren't really in any sort of order, although I did save my two favorites for last. Be sure to check out everything, but especially the last. Catch 'em after the jump.

DJ Shadow - "I Gotta Rokk"

Dj Shadow-I Gotta Rokk (LP Version) by oli02

So I think it's universally acknowledged that The Outsider was somewhat lackluster. Which made DJ Shadow's announcement of a new album, titled The Less You Know The Better and slated for a September 5 release, sort of anti-climactic, even after four years of silence. That is, until I heard this, the first single for the record. Let's just say it bodes very, very well for what he has up his sleeve come fall. "I Gotta Rokk" is also being released next Tuesday as part of an EP along with two singles from last summer, "Def Surrounds Us" and "I've Been Trying."

Psychedelic Horseshit - Laced Stream

Psychedelic Horseshit's first album for Fat Cat comes out May 16. The 405 posted a stream of the new album today, and it sounds batshit crazy. "French Countryside" and "Tropical Vision" are the standouts here, but the whole thing's worth a couple spins.

Look at how fucking creepy Thom Yorke looks in this picture

When Thom Yorke looks at you like this, you know gonna get some twitchy lovin'.

Continuing his ongoing electronica identity crisis, Thom Yorke once again played a DJ set last night with Flying Lotus. This is just the kind of stuff that you have to be in the right place, at the right time for, I guess. He spun some records of his and FlyLo, and apparently some Tyler, the Creator as well. I'd really kill for a video of him singing along to Tyler, but this video will just have to do.

Watch: Salem - "Till the World Ends" [NWS]

Admittedly, this one has been around for a couple of days, but because of my lack of getting shit done, I'm just posting it now. Brought to you by Salem, and yeah, Britney Spear, the song, especially combined with the vide, packs a powerful punch. First you get strippers, then real footage of military operations overseas. It all comes together to create something a bit apocalyptic, which is just how I like my apocalypses, filled with strippers and blowing shit up.

Watch: Tyler the Creator Having More Fun Than You

Tyler the Creator's intensely anticipated new album Goblin drops this time next week. Because I can't wait, and even though it may annoy some other contributors (ahem) to this site, I thought I'd share the above video of Tyler hanging out at the XL offices before his European tour. Mainly it just makes me wish like hell I could work for XL.

Prefuse 73 - The Only She Chapters Sampler

Prefuse 73 'The Only She Chapters' Album Sampler by Warp Records

Also streaming over at AOL is the new release by electronica godhead/kingpin/overlord Guillermo Scott Herren. His stuff as Prefuse 73 is hit-and-miss (ranging from absolute classics like One Word Extinguisher to kind of forgettable one-offs like Security Screenings). Upon an initial listen, The Only She Chapters seems to fit solidly into the former category. It features a ton of guest vocalists: Faidherbe, Shara Worden of My Brightest Diamond, Trish Keenan of Broadcast (RIP), Nico Turner of VoicesVoices, Niki Randa, Zola Jesus, and Adron.

The Wave Pictures - "Little Surprise"

The Wave Pictures - Little Surprise by moshi moshi music

The press release for The Wave Pictures' new album Beer In The Breakers was just emailed to me, and it uses a quote from a thing I wrote for another site. So the PR people are convincing me to write about these guys with a quote that I've already written about these guys. And goddamnit if I'm not convincing, because here I am. The Wave Pictures are from Wymeswold, Leicestershire (yeah, I don't know either) and they make jangly guitar pop with lyrics that more than a little resemble Morrissey's. "Little Surprise" is the lead single from the record, which comes out today via Moshi Moshi. You can also stream the entire record over at AOL for a limited time.

The Lonely Island ft. Beck - "Attracted to Us"

If you've ever heard the Lonely Island before, you know you already love this song before even hearing it. Andy Samberg and crew have always been good at giving us geeky guys anthems we can call our own, and this might top them all. The inclusion of Beck to the song really ties it up together, and gives it that, you know, musical twist. It's from their sophmore LP, Turtleneck & Chain, and there's a ton of other guests on this album including Snoop Dog and, of course, Justin Timberlake. You can hear the song over at Some Kind of Awesome. The album hits next Tuesday, Math 10th, via Universal Republic.

White Fence - "Get That Heart"

White Fence - "Get That Heart"
White Fence returned earlier this year with their second LP, Is Growing Faith, and here's just a taste of it. Titled "Get That Heart", the song is a lazy (in a good way), jangley piece that bounces along as vocalist Tim Presley sings about our generation with a little bit of nice optimism. Maybe the world isn't screwed? Nah, probably is, but at least there's good tunes. (even if it is kinda old lol)

Stream new Gang Gang Dance, Man Man

Not sure what it is about bands that have repeated words in their name, but a couple of 'em decided this was the day to reveal their new albums. Personally, I'm incredibly excited to hear the new Gang Gang Dance. Gonna be jamming on this while I'm working, so I should hopefully have a review of it up soon. Either way, both bands are wildly creative. You can listen to Gang Gang Dance's new album, Eye Contact, up above, and Man Man's new one, Life Fantastic, can be caught over at Stereogum.

Black Moth Super Rainbow - "Old Yes"

Black Moth Super Rainbow - "Old Yes"

I'll just come right out and say it, I absolutely love the mind melting synth charms of Tobacco and his band, Black Moth Super Rainbow. They truly developed a unique sound, and while that sound hasn't really evolved since their breakout LP, Dandelion Gum, there's still new tricks to be had from it, literally, even. The band is set to release a delux version Dandelion Gum with 14 unreleased songs recorded during the sessions of that album. One of them, above, is "Old Yes", a high pitched synth piece that really embraces that mellow BLSR sound that is so very welcomed after all the grungey abrasiveness that Tobacco has been doing lately. The collection of old songs hits next Tuesday via Graveface Records.

Watch: ANR - "Dead Gulf"

If all nature documentaries were this awesome, I'd be a much more informed person. Not that this is really informing me a whole lot, but...whatever. Shown here is a sped-up video of a sea polyp called Corynactis viridis, which can be found in many of Western Europe's coastlines. It's accompanied by an angelic piece by ANR, who sound nothing like this in any of their other songs, which fall some under the category of electronic dance music. A little change in direction never hurt anyone, so here's hoping it's a sign of things to come. The song can be bought on itunes, along with the band's latest album, "Stay Kids."

David Thomas Broughton - "Perfect Louse"

David Thomas Broughton 'Perfect Louse' by Generator

David Thomas Broughton has been around for a while now, but he deserves some love on this side of the pond (the American side). He has a new album called Outbreeding out on May 23rd. "Perfect Louse" isn't the best song on the album, but it serves as a good introduction to his experimental folk. His voice is pretty divisive - like a British Devendra Banhart or Antony. But if you dig it, you'll dig the album when it drops.

Railcars - "Saints are Waiting"

Railcars - Saints Are Waiting

Saints are Waiting is basically two songs in one. The first is a rough around the edges, noisey song sang with cold melodies. Halfway through the computer scanner beats temper off, and your left with an expanded piano and simple drum beats, making the rest of the song much more sweet. The song comes from Railcars' new 7", Said Sister, which you can get on Gold Robot.

Trance Farmers - "Betty Bop"

Trance Farmers - "Betty Bop"

When you first hear this song, you might wonder if it's even meant to be a real song. And that's about when the energies of the song sweep you up in an ecstatic, lo-fi ride that sees hints of Elvis Presley, and Ariel Pink, all smothered in madman crazy jello. It's from their album SCOOBIE DOOBIE and it's probably the most accessible thing on there. That being said, there's a lot of really interesting stuff going on in the album. "Muck" is of the synthed up, dark psychedelia type, and "Surfer Swami" sounds like a bunch of melancholy electronic frogs. You can grab the full album at their bandcamp.

COLOSSAL BRAID PT. 1

Cowboys in the Void- Quilt

Glow Worm- Diva

Aniborne- Echo Tongues

This Heart We Glow- Gkfoes Vjgoaf

Tenements- Gross Ghost

Constantly Collapsing Paradise- Zonotope(tm)

Run Peacock Run- Apache Dropout

When You Look- Motorbikes

Bright Bliss- Many Mansions

Black Country- Tonstartssbandht

Sun Videos- Monster Rally

N33D- Liquid Skulls

We the People- The Woozies

Do You Have a Mustache?- High Wolf

DOWNLOAD

The Woozies- The Cassette Tape

Big ups to my pal Jimmy Spice of LIQUID SKULLS for tipping me off to this lil' gem. Earthy psych-pop perfection. Using a modern twist on something classic, The Woozies nail that early Mamas and the Papa's feel, with boy-girl duo chants, and shining guitars, all feral and shit. You can pay what you want for it on bandcamp. I paid 5 bucks. Or, you can hurry and order a copy as a limited handmade cassette.

The Antlers - "Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out"

The Antlers - Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out

The Antlers' new album Bursting Apart has been streaming over at NPR's music blog recently, and it is excellent. Hospice was one of my favorite records of 2009, but I couldn't get through it without danger of some sort of self-harm. This record has the same sort of scope without being a concept album, and with much less in the way of terminal illness and existential dread. "Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out" is the lead off single, and it's startling in the same way Radiohead's "Jigsaw Falling Into Place" was - it seems to be about partying, but surely these guys don't party, right?

Review: Julian Lynch - Terra

Julian Lynch - "Canopy"

Delivered just a year after his breakout second LP, Terra returns to the sounds that made Mare such an enriching affair, while subtly manipulating the sound with a range of new instruments and energies. While these new techniques do help a little to differentiate this record, the feeling is still one of comfortable familiarity and quiet self-discovery.

GKFOES VJGOAF-

Magic Senses (Breathe The Breath)- Gkfoes Vjgoaf
What to say about Gkfoes Vjgoaf? Most people's first reaction is "WTF are those words?". Who cares. Gkfoes Vjgoaf is making the most spiritually accessible music to date. With multiple albums all exploring different psychedelic territory, from acoustic meditations, to lo-fi psych-pop gems, to blistering mystic improv, one is never left feeling empty-headed (or always left feeling empty-headed, depending on how one listens). In his own description, these albums represent "forest longing". You can download all of his albums from his bandcamp for a mere 5 dollars each. I did. It's worth the money for this sort of collection.

QUILT- Cowboys in the Void/Penobska Oakwalk (Single)

Absolutely cannot stop spacing out to the "Cowboys in the Void/Penobska Oakwalk" single QUILT released back in March. A-Side "Cowboys in the Void" channels something new in terms of vintage dream-pop, while B-Side "Penboska Oakwalk" is straight hippy-dippy, 60's commune perfection. Take your shirt off and drift. It's 2 bucks, but hell, its the cheapest audible pet alligator i've found. Download their other short-player/slow-burner "Agents of Play" on a name-your-own-price basis. of course, its all on bandcamp.