More new Atlas Sound, "Artificial Snow"

Bradford Cox never, ever stops. Through his blog, he's releasing another free song, one that he recorded for a Christmas mixtape for a friend. You can download it, and all of its versions, for free here.

New Bright Eyes song

That's right! Connor Oberst bounced around from performing as Bright Eyes, to Connor Oberst, then adding the Mystic Valley Band... Well now its back to where he started. How long before he performs as Commander Venus again? One can dream. Here's a new song called "Shell Games" off the new album, The People's Key. Its an interesting little thing. The piano in the beginning is largely expected, sounding very Bright Eyes-ish, but then we're sort of hit with this rocking guitar and synth part. Pretty positive and anthem-like for Bright Eyes.

Video: The Very Best in the studio

I remember when The Very Best (the collaboration between Esau Mwamwaya and London based DJ Radioclit) came out with their first album a few years back and thinking that there wasn't really a lot of bands out there (I personally can't think of any at all) that sound like these guys. Even the lyrics which are sung in Chichewa, the national language of Malawi (Esau's home country), sound like an instrument unto itself. Sunny, tropical African music at its... Very Best (see what I did there?). Here's a video from the title track of the first album, Esau Mwamwaya and Radioclit Are The Very Best.




Their 2nd album, Warm Heart of Africa was full of suprising guests like Ezra Koenig from Vampire Weekend and M.I.A. and turned out awesome. Here's "Warm Heart of Africa" feat. Ezra Koenig.



The embed function on the official video was disabled, but TRUST ME its well worth watching. Its probably one of my favorite music videos of all time and is impossible to not smile during:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MDYTkdVT8M

Well, The Very Best is currently working on a 3rd. Here's a little video of them in the studio going to work:

The Very Best in The Studio from Pomp&Clout on Vimeo.

Can't wait!

Girls in the Garage, Volumes 1-1 million

Jeez, I've been slacking on this stuff lately. Blame it on final essays before the holidays and holidays since work. I've been listening to these compilations for a few months now and since I was listening to them today, I figured I'd post some links and share them. Here's a few samples of what you can expect/some links to some blogs with links to all the volumes I could find.



(My personal favorite):


Links:
http://sixtiesfever.blogspot.com/2008/12/girls-in-garage.html
http://chocoreve.blogspot.com/2005/12/girls-in-garage-vol-1-2-3-4-6-7-8-9-10.html

Have fun.

Smith Westers - Weekend video

Dropped off the face of the Earth for a little, sorry. Simply too much work to think of anything but work. Home for the holidays now in Wilkes-Barre for a few days with some time to relax. I know this is a week old or so, but given this was one of my favorite songs of 2010, I wanna post it anyway. Here it is:

Smith Westerns - Weekend from Fat Possum Records on Vimeo.

I think I listen to this song every day. Can't WAIT for the album.

New Beach House track.

On their website, Beach House released a holiday track called "I Do Not Care For The Winter Sun". Its a beautiful little thing. Get it for free here.

Peter Bjorn and John new album!

So while I wasn't too big on the last Peter Bjorn and John album, it was only because it wasn't enough like Writer's Block. As a standalone album it sounded pretty good, but I was dying for another "Let's Call It Off" to jam out to in the summertime. On March 28th, the dudes will be coming out with another album titled Gimme Some. I am selfishly hoping its more Writer's Block than anything else.

I mean, c'mon, remember this:

Matt Sweeney and Bonnie Prince Billy - Superwolf

This is an album that came out while I was in high school still. It blew away a few of my friends, myself, and our art teacher. I think this album, Superwolf, will always be a winter's favorite. This is the kind of cold that keeps you in. Check this one out and stay warm:

EDIT: I couldn't help but post more from this album to try and convince you all to listen and love it as much as I do. First two songs off Superwolf. I could listen to this over and over:

SHOW REVIEW: Crooked Fingers, Cotton Jones, Strand of Oaks

Hey everyone. Here's another show review that I did for City Paper. Here's a link and a few extra pictures. Most of the pictures were taken by me, but some of the better ones were taken by Tina.

Crooked Fingers

Cotton Jones

Strand of Oaks

Lillebjørn Nilsen - Tanta Til Beate

I first heard this song while I was living in London. In my flat, I lived with 7 people, 3 from America and 4 from Norway. As I was walking into our kitchen one day I heard my one Norwegian flat mate, Arne, playing his ukulele and singing this song. It sounded fantastic, so I had to know where this came from. He told me it's by an old Norwegian folk singer named Lillebjørn Nilsen describing how jazz went down the drain after the death of gypsy jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt. He kept playing it and I went about whatever I was doing, listening very closely to all those words I didn't understand.

EDIT, CORRECTION, HALT: Friday Music Playlist

Hello,

So its Friday and its been a really rough past 2 weeks or so and I know many of you (my friends) have been having a rough go at it as well. Here's some Friday music. Listen to this, give the next person you see a high five, eat some pizza, and drink 'til you can't.

EDIT:

So I figured why stop with one song? Friday requires a SOUNDTRACK. I'm just going to keep on posting songs and hopefully you'll play them at a party.

Weed Diamond - Let's Burn One Down

http://hypem.com/track/1037051/Weed+Diamond+-+Let+s+Burn+One+Down

New Panda Bear single!

Late night/early morning update, but good thing I was up to catch this one! Paw Tracks just posted this link. A link to stream Panda Bear's new 7", Last Night At the Jetty. Enjoy!

Jeff Magnum strikes back!

Jeff Magnum, lead singer and songwriter of the now defunct but almost mythically influential Neutral Milk Hotel played a secret show in Brooklyn the other day (not sure when) surely in front of next to nobody. Magnum has been playing a bit more shows lately, but usually nobody hears about it until a few days later until he is, what I imagine to be, thousands of miles away in a disguise. Apparently International Tapes recorded one of these such shows (link via jpsblog).

So I guess the lesson here is if you're a Jeff Magnum/Neutral Milk Hotel fan carry a tape recorder with you wherever you go. You never know when Jeff Magnum will pop up and play you a song.

Nightlands debut music video.

Hellooo,

Philly group Nightlands (Dan Hartley of War on Drugs) debuted their music video today for "Suzerain". Its a great little atmospheric, electronic, pop song with multiple voices with footage from the 1970's collected from the public domain. The footage is really nice, but it makes me wonder if we'll ever get out of this weird and overwhelming trend of using vintage footage and pictures for music videos and album covers. That's besides the point though, check out the song down there!

I think I found my favorite Beatles song today.

Its this one, called "Yer Blues". Never heard it before today. Love it. Dirty bluesy song with Lennon screaming in some parts. Really good. Hope you like it. Drink beer with friends while you listen to this.

Gorilla Vs. Bear's top 30 albums of 2010

I thought about doing something like this but I'm not sure my opinions on the matter are 1) consistent 2) coherent so I may not bother. Maybe I'll just post neat lists I see across the vast traverse of the interwebnet. This one I thought was interesting. I'm glad to see Ty Segall's Melted made the list! Not a whole lot of people are making rock music like he is these days. I don't have many emotions towards who gets what, but it is fun to read. If you look to the comments, a lot of people are pretty upset Kanye didn't make it (spoiler, I guess).

Here it is:

http://www.gorillavsbear.net/2010/12/02/gorilla-vs-bears-albums-of-2010/

New Dum Dum Girls track (for real this time).

A track has surfaced! Its the Dum Dum Girls covering a Strawberry Switchblade song called "Trees and Flowers". Check it out:

TREES & FLOWERS by wearedumdumgirls

Candy Claws

Just discovered this today. Really nice psych pop ala Twin Sister. Fits this sunny December day in Old City. Here's a song you should probably sit in a comfy chair with a coffee for.

Candy Claws - The Breathing Fire: Free MP3 Download

Wolf Parade goes on indefinite hiatus.

Bad news. Seems Wolf Parade, who just came out with a pretty solid album, Expo 86, are deciding to call it quits for awhile. I don't know why, but when it took them that long to come out with 3 albums and with each member being a part of other projects such as Sunset Rubdown, Swan Lake, and the Handsome Furs, one couldn't help but wonder if it was difficult to give enough time and effort to Wolf Parade.

Oh my, hopefully they come back soon. Bands on hiatus are a funny thing. Sometimes it just marks the slow death of a band and sometimes they're back in no time. Hope for the latter.

I remember being 16 and hearing "Shine A Light" for the first time. What a day, what an album, what a soundtrack to being young. Enjoy.

Preview new Ducktails album, Arcade Dynamics.

Hi!

Awesome stuff here. You can now listen to little previews of each song off of the forthcoming Ducktails album Arcade Dynamics which will be released in your preferred sound vessel format on January 10th. The one track "Killin the Vibe" features Jarvis Taveniere of Woods and Panda Bear. Sounds REEEAALLY nice. Have fun listnun'.

Atlas Sound has their own music taken off internet.

Damn it Sony, stop it. While we were all feasting our faces off, Brandford Cox of Atlas Sound released 4 volumes of recordings. It wasn't long at all before Sony Music took it down from Mediafire. Here's what Brandford had to say from the Deerhunter/Atlas Sound blog:

"Apparently Sony Music Owns my bedroom. Feel free to call or email and let them know what you think. I can understand them requesting for me to remove a cover but the only one I can imagine that happening with is Dylan. Which was on Vol. 1. Which was not deleted. I am re-uploading the files now. I'll put new links in the posts."

So there you have it. Luckily, we've still got links that work. Take a listen, and tell Sony to suck it:

-Volume 1

-Volume 2

-Volume 3

-Volume 4

Hey, remember this?

Stuck in my head today. Maybe from being back in cold, windy Wilkes-Barre. Maybe it reminds me of drinking coffee late at night, 89 cent breakfasts, learning how to drive, and Lionshead in my dusty basement. Sure reminds me of driving in my "new" '99 Taurus in the winter time between naked trees. I think, actually, this was the first song I ever played in my car. Hope you like it.

City Paper Review: Tame Impala

Hi,

Two good shows in Philly in the past few days: Tame Impala on Sunday and Delorean on Monday. Fortunately, City Paper sent me to both to review them and take some pictures. Here's the Tame Impala review. Here's a few pictures too:

Tame Impala

Stardeath and White Dwarfs

The Morning Benders and Andrea Estella of Twin Sister cover Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams"

What? Awesome.

the morning benders & Twin Sister's Andrea Estella Cover Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams" @ Webster Hall, NYC 11/18/10 from stereogum on Vimeo.

It's a Leonard Cohen sort of day.

Beautiful November day in Philadelphia. Been listening to Cohen today. I think it fits if you're feeling calm. Try these on:

More new Girls pt. 2

Well God, I can't seem to keep up with all the stuff that's spilling into the magical chasms of the interweb. Here's a track called "Carolina", the final track on the upcoming Girls EP Broken Dreams Club. Its an interesting track for Girls, as it sprawls into an 8 minute psychedelic jam whereas most Girls songs are just well constructed pop songs. Check it out:

GIRLS // Carolina by TheArtOf...

Checked it? Ok good. Now, if you can't wait for the November 22nd release of it, I will say Broken Dreams Club has leaked and is pretty easy to find if that's what yer into. Hope you enjoy.

Dum Dum Girls Tour

Dum Dum Girls at Primavera Sound in Barcelona. Taken by me.

Hi,

EDIT: Turns out, that track I posted wasn't new, in fact it was old. Whoops. BUT, they did just announced a bunch of tour dates. Johnny Brendas in March? Sounds good to me.

DUM DUM GIRLS TOUR:

12/21 Los Angeles, CA – Echoplex w/ Abe Vigoda
02/16 San Francisco, CA – Bottom of the Hill
02/18 San Diego, CA – The Casbah
02/21 Denver, CO – Hi Dive
02/23 St. Louis, MO – Billiken Club
02/24 Chicago, IL – Empty Bottle
02/25 Detroit, MI – Magic Stick
02/26 Toronto, ON – El Mocambo
02/27 Montreal, QC- Il Motore
03/01 Burlington, VT – Metronome
03/02 Boston, MA – Brighton Music Hall
03/04 New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
03/05 Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brenda’s
03/06 Washington, DC – Black Cat
03/08 Chapel Hill, NC- Local 506
03/10 Atlanta, GA – The Earl
03/11 Jacksonville, FL- Jackrabbits
03/12 Orlando, FL – The Social

Small Black Mixtape for Gorilla vs Bear

(via Gorilla Vs. Bear)

Take a listen to a mixtape Small Black made for Gorilla vs Bear. You can download it here.

Here's the track list:

01 Visage – Damned Don’t Cry

02 Psychobuildings – Portrait

03 Moss of Aura – Sledge

04 Phone Tag – Let it Go

05 Nicki Minaj – Your Love (Small Black Remix)

06 Durutti Column – Sketch for Summer

07 John Maus – Do Your Best

08 Top Girls – Can’t Stop (2xEcho Edit)

09 Tim Buckley – Morning Glory (Peel Session 68)

10 Nasty Millionaire – Don’t Give Up!

11 Dog Bite – Take Your Time (2.0)

12 Oneohtrix Point Never – Zones Without People

More New Girls!

Hey everyone. So Chris Owen of Girls revealed a few new songs off of the upcoming EP Broken Dreams Club. After hearing "Heartbreaker" and now these, I think I can pretty easily say this is one of my most anticipated albums of the next year. Here's a buuuuuuuuuuunch of new stuff to enjoy!

So... ENJOY:

Purling Hiss

I've been fan of the whole Woodsist label for awhile, so I always check out new bands that release albums through them. When I found out the newest entry to the Woodsist family is a band from Philly I had to check it out.

Purling Hiss is Mike Polizze of Philadelphia's own fuzzy stoner rock group, Birds of Maya. Their 3rd album, and Woodsist debut is a nice little album called Public Service Announcement. So I gave it a listen and it sounds pretty wild. It drifts from noisy drugged out 70's inspired psych rock, dreamier tracks that sprawl into decent jams, and then sometimes just noise under water. Give it a listen:

Read full review of Public Service Announcement - Purling Hiss on Boomkat.com ©

Even MORE new Real Estate, almost new Panda Bear

This is just getting out of hand. Real Estate has been on a tour in Japan as of late and debuted another new song (whoops!). I wonder what its like. Y'know, to be a part of a band of music making robots. Well, here you go, enjoy:

Also, the new Panda Bear single "Last Night At the Jetty" which is due out December 6th surfaced today briefly but within minutes was already taken down again. Seriously, I saw it was posted around 12:30pm, and its about 12:45 right now. Sorry, wasn't quick enough to get it up here. Apparently its a hazy track with heavy reverb. Oh well. I'll keep on looking for it.

WEEKEND TIME DANCE TIL MONDAY

Bye.

Sweet Lights

I've really been digging on this Philly pop group called Sweet Lights. Warm songs for November. Here's two songs:

Here's a new music video they just released.

Sweet Lights - "Endless Town" from Delicious Scopitone on Vimeo.

Stuck in my head.

If anyone finds anything by this woman, ever...

Let me know.

New Volcano Choir, more new Real Estate, new Wolf Parade

So many odds and ends popping up!

Found this little guy. A video of Justin Vernon's Volcano Choir. Good fall tunes:

Volcano Choir - "Still" from Volcano Choir on Vimeo.

Also, more Real Estate. In the past month its been a new single, Ducktails announcing an album, and now this cover of John Lennon's "Mind Games" featuring Bradford Cox of Deerhunter. Pretty busy dudes. There was a video of it that's since been taken off of youtube, so here's a link.

ALSO, Wolf Parade just came out with another non-album single. Here's a link.

Give us some time to breath, guys!

Ducktails - Ducktails III: Arcade Dynamics

(old album cover, don't be fooled)

Hello,

So I've been a really big fan of Matthew Mondanile's pleasant, mellow instrumental pop project Ducktails. I was sold ever since I heard this recording of Ducktails playing "Let's Rock the Beach" (now better known from being a track on Real Estate's self titled album) sometime last year. Good news! is that the Matthew Mondanile (also of Real Estate) just announced a third album entitled Ducktails III: Arcade Dynamics set to release on January 10th on Woodsist. All those Real Estate dudes are pretty busy! Here's a little sample of some old goodness.

and new goodness.

Bye.

Hear new Smith Westerns track "Weekend"

Oh my goodness! The Smith Westerns' self titled album has definitely been one of my favorites since it came out. Its been rejoining the rotation of albums I've been listening to a lot lately. The new one coming out on January 18th entitled Dye It Blond and I think there's good reason to be excited. So far, we've already heard "Imagine Pt. 3", a song that was released on a single and played live a ton. WELL NOW we're given another little tidbit from Fat Possum, "Weekend", the lead off track from the album. Its classic Smith Westerns glam pop, only this time with a bit more of a budget:

"Weekend"

Smith Westerns - Weekend by forcefieldpr

In case you missed it, here's another track off the album, "Imagine Pt. 3":

La Sera debut video is EXTRA SPOOKY

La Sera, the side project of Vivian Girls member Kelley Goodman, just debuted the video for "Never Come Around", the first single off of an album slated to come out sometime in the futuretime. Its TOTALLY spooky and perfect for Halloween:

Also:

SPOOKY SUGGESTIONS and Paine Park Shoot

Hi,

Some pictures from the Paine Park photo shoot today. Everyone was really nice. Check out City Paper's blog 'Critical Mass' for a write up and quotes and stuff on Monday or so. SO HERE:

(This is hopefully where the park will be a year from now)

Its really close to being Halloween. Halloween is so much fun, I think. You should really listen to the Misfits for the majority of the holiday season. Here's some good ones:

New Lykke Li, New DOM

Yeah!

New Lykke Li video dudes. Here:

Also, a new DOM remix of "Living In America" by Expensive Looks. Here:

http://www.mediafire.com/?von4e1tav94nqyg

Bye!

Girls announce new EP: Broken Dreams Club

Girls' debut album... Album, placed pretty high on a lot of folks' top albums of the year last year, and in my opinion it deserved it. After Album came out and Girls did a few tours it kinda felt like they dropped off the Earth a little. I was afraid they were going to turn into a sort of one-and-done band, but on cue with my fears they announced today that they would be releasing a little 6 song, 30-minute EP called "Broken Dreams Club" set to be released on November 22nd.

Here's a free MP3 from True Panther Sounds of a track off the new EP called "Heartbreaker". And, I gotta be honest, hearing this gets me pretty excited for the rest of the EP. Just more quality pop. The embed code isn't working, so here's a link

Also, if you go on over to True Panther Sounds you can see a letter Chris Owen wrote up describing how he feels about the EP. All sounds pretty good to me.

Small Black - New Chain

Ah! One of my favorite bands from the past year has released what might be considered their first proper full length album, New Chain. If you don't have last years Despicable Dogs, I highly suggest that one too. Here's a link to the song "Photojournalist". I'm enjoying it. Definitely sounds like a small departure from Despicable Dogs. Get it!

Small Black - Photojournalist

http://www.iguessimfloating.net/assets/mp3s/04%20Photojournalist.mp3

Ariel Pink Remixes and Covers

Ariel Pink's been blowing up since Before Today which I didn't really see coming when waiting for the album to drop. Pinglewood, a music blog I only recently heard of, released a special podcast of Ariel Pink covers and remixes by a few notable artists such as Echo Lake and His Clancyness. Here's a stream of the podcast which will apparently be released as a free EP sometime soon.

Pinglewood Pingcast S01E02 - Ariel Pink Special by pinglewood

Black Keys do iTunes Session

I love the Black Keys even if Brothers was played ALL THE TIME EVERYWHERE this summer. Its still a great album, but man...

Well, we're only a few months removed from that release and already the 'Keys are getting something else out. A ten song iTunes session is out now... on iTunes. It'll probably pop up somewhere as a .rar or something soon if not already.

Stuck in muh heaaauuuuddd

Been stuck on this. Enjoy:

Real Estate - Out of Tune 7"

The new Real Estate 7", "Out of Tune/Reservoir", came out a few days ago right under my nose. I got it, and man, is it quality stuff. Out of Tune is the sort of dreamy surf pop stuff you expect out of Real Estate. Although it isn't a huge diversion from anything they've done in the past, its still a good song. Reservoir, on the other hand, is a sped up and more upbeat version of what you'd expect. Kinda sounds like what "Green River" sounds like when performed live, faster than usual, lively, and fun.

"Out of Tune"

Out Of Tune by truepanther

Couldn't find an embed link to "Reservoir", but here's a video with decent enough sound quality to hear them playing it. The video's from Primavera Sound Fest in Barcelona which happened in May this year. I was actually there during this video and about 10 feet from the stage. Not sure what the guy's filming... people and palm trees I guess.

Stream New Avey Tare Album

The topic of this should really be called "NPR Rules". You can now listen to the entire album Down There on NPR's First Listen.

New Panda Bear Tracks

Hi,

The 2 tracks from Panda Bear's upcoming 7" "You Can Count On Me" have been leaked. "You Can Count On Me" (the song) is a slow, pleasant, atmospheric track with echoed drums and warped muffled guitar sounds. The B-Side borrows the same piano-ish effect from his last B-Side, "Slow Motion" and turns it to a lighter rhythm. I'm pretty happy with this stuff. I didn't mind the "Tomboy" 7", but these tracks hit me a little better. Here's some streams:

You Can Count On Me

Panda Bear - You Can Count On Me by jp917

Alsatian Darn

Panda Bear - Alsatian Darn by jp917

City Paper Review

Hi

Here's the City Paper review:

http://citypaper.net/blogs/criticalmass/2010/10/07/review-the-xx-the-merriam-104/

More pictures from XX // WARPAINT // ZOLA JESUS

Just some more. Didn't feel like going to the previous post to add them so I'll just make a new 'un altogether.

New Avey Tare video

Avey Tare just released a new website/music video from his upcoming solo effort Down There. Animal Collective-y as you might expect, but I still think it's pretty enjoyable.

Lucky 1 from Abby Portner on Vimeo.

XX // WARPAINT // ZOLA JESUS

So,

Since I started this internship with City Paper, they told me that if I was willing to write some show reviews, they would send me to shows for free. So just as a sort of shot in the dark I pitched the idea of going to the XX show at the Merriem Theater on Broad. Not only did they give me a ticket, they gave me 2 tickets worth something like $30 each and a photo pass. They didn't know it was my birthday that day, but I'm gonna pretend they did and that they love me very much.

Me and a buddy of mine went and after being sorta hassled by the guy at the ticket window, the staff really gave us the oh-my-you-might-be-important treatment, or if not that they at least didn't look at me like I was gonna steal anything. Sweet seats, free tickets, and security just nodding while I ran around taking pictures. By the way, again, these photos are mine so don't take or use them without asking. Here's a few:

Zola Jesus

Warpaint

The XX

(Tina took this one)

For a review of the show, go to Citypaper.net later this week. I might do an extended one here too.

Those Darlins

So,

I've been a fan of the Austin, Texas garage group The Strange Boys for quite some time. When I found out they'd be playing 2 shows in Philly on the same day I was pretty psyched. I didn't recognize the one band they were playing with a Murfeesboro, Tennessee group called Those Darlins. I was curious so I checked em out. I liked what I found. They have a sort of Alt-Country sound, a genre that's had a little bit of a quiet period since the indie world freaked out about Ryan Adams and the subsequent Adams' clones. This is no shot to Adams or some of the bands, but the genre simply got stale. Those Darlins put a bit of a garagey spin on it giving it enough satisfying grit without losing any of that Patsy Cline charm. Since then I've been going through the self titled album quite a bit and loving it.

Picture from Grinnelconcerts.com

If you're in the Philly area, Those Darlins, The Strange Boys, and Gentleman Jesse are playing Kungfu Necktie Sunday, September 9th TWICE. Once at 3:30PM (for under 21ers) and again at 8PM for $10 a piece (for over 21ers). I wouldn't miss it. The new Those Darlins split 7" titled "Night Jogger" is available now for digital download from their site. Hope to see y'all there!

Here's some surfy tunes for the end of summer:

(pic from myspace)

http://www.unibytes.com/odMxjvCYhYcB

Carlos and the Bandidos are a rockabilly group from London who do a lot of covers of surf and early rock classics and they totally aren't a wedding band.