SSHHHIIII: Julia Holter - Ekstasis

Been waiting for this one for quite some time. Ekstasis, the sophmore Julia Holter album, is up for streaming on NPR.. This thing is good. Really good. So good you'll want to own it. Buy it from the RVNG Intl.. You can also listen to the first song "Marienbad" directly below, in case of, like, laziness or some thing. 

Hypnotic: Death And Vanilla - "Rituals"

Movie Trailer: Beyond the Black Rainbow

 Holy shit. I hope the admission price includes a free vial of LSD.

Listen: Eric Copeland - "Car Alarms"

Here's one more thing I forgot to add over the week. Mainly because my love for this song wasn't apparent at first, but it grows with each listen. From Black Dice dude, Eric Copeland, comes "Car Alarm." I don't even feel the need to describe this one. Imagine if Animal Collective and Ween fused into one weird, fucked up noise band. That's basically what you get. It's a grimey, stuttered sort of melody, and completely different than anything else out there. Hey, that's Eric Copeland for you.

 

Check out Pitchfork to listen.

From the Week: Vidz & Stuff

Roman Ruins - "Wildflower"
There really wasn't much in the way of awesome music videos this week, at least not in the sense that they also had compelling music. However, two notable ones come from Roman Ruins and LHF. Both are pretty psychedelic. And then there's one from LX Sweat. The video is terrible. The music is not. Isn't that what really matters? Dude? Check 'em out?

Listen: Willis Earl Beal - "Take Me Away"

Willis Earl Beal is quickly becoming an incredibly noteworthy act. His style of barebones blues isn't one visited too often in the realm of indie pop blogospheres and all that nonsense, but it's one that we've been quietly starved of. "Take Me Away" is one of the new cuts from his new album, Acousmatic Sorcery, and it's as good as the last. Sad and emotionally compelling, it smells of Lightnin' Hopkins but with such a refreshing scent that I don't even care to explore what it sounds like and doesn't sound like. 

Acousmatic Sorcery comes out March 20th via XL. I hope you're ready for this one.

MP3: White Fences - "Swagger Vets and Double Moon"

White Fences - "Swagger Vets and Double Moon" 

Some people still know how to rock my fucking face off and one of those is Tim Presley. As White Fences, Presley released the unbelievably overlooked 2011 album "Is Growing Faith" but he's got much more than that planned for this year. "Swagger Vets and Double Moon" is a first rate cut from his new freaking double album Family Perfume, Vol. 1 which drops proper on April 3. Then soon after that a collaboration album between himself and Ty Segall called Hair is released via Drag City. 

Shit dude. Chill out.

Streaming: Young Magic - Melt

Got nothing to do today? Great. Check Melt, the debut album by Young Magic. It's a rather cleve affair, blending chaotic noise and pop, at times sounding like Animal Collective and Flaming Lips, but usually sounding like nothing else around. It's worth your time. Melt officially releases February 14 via Carpark Records. You can find the stream after the jump thanks to Hype Machine. 

MP3: Cities Aviv - "FLEX YOUR GOLD"

Cities Aviv's last album, Digital Lowswas vastly underrated, specifically when it comes to last year's best of lists. It did get Gavin Mays attention, however. This new song he recently released is just a single song, but it's a sign that he's not resting on just making such an distinguished album and is instead looking forward to his real breakout hits. "FLEX YOUR GOLD" doesn't stray too hard from established territory, but it doesn't need to. Mays seems to still have much room to work with while retaining all the similar spaces his music had before.

Download it from his bandcamp on a pay what you want basis.

From the Week: Vidz and Stuff

Lia Ices - "Little Marriage" I don't post everything I see and like, so sometimes you just gotta cram it all in with one article. First up, and probably the video I like the most is from Lia Ices. The song itself is really the hook here, but the video keeps up an elegant class to complete the audio/visual package. After the jump see a really interesting film from shabazz palaces and a disturbingly jaring piece alongside a tune by Phèdre. All that wraps up with two soothers from M. Ward and SOKO.

Podcast: Colossal Radio - January 21, 2011

This week I bring you my radio show...from two weeks ago. Most weekends, 2-4pm, I present a round up of the week's blog givings, as well as personal favorites. Last time's show featured new music from Real Estate, Daniel Rossen, Sleigh Bells, Lower Dens, Julianna Barwick, and more. Track listing after the break. Download it here.

Watch: Unicycle Loves You - "Piranha"

I have to say, this is one of the best Thurston Moore soundalike songs I've ever heard, and that's not a slam. This is some classic Sonic Youth sounding stuff here. This has 90's level greatness written all over it. From their new album Failure, which comes out Feb 14. Can't wait to hear the rest.

Listen: Julia Holter - "In the Same Room"

I shouldn't even have to write about this song. If you have glanced at this blog in the past few weeks or know me personally, you know I'm all up Julia Holter's butt. Beautiful, ethereal, and most importantly, uniquely catchy, she completely does her own thing, and "In the Same Room" is no different. I'm waiting as patiently as I can for Ekstasis, even though I'm pretty sure it's going to be the first thing of this year that just completely blows me away. 

Comes out March 8, which can't come soon enough.