Metric - New Single

Metric's new single 'Youth Without Youth' was released 3 hours ago:

[soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/43544043" iframe="true" /]

There's a commentary over here, in which the band mention the '70s sleaze' feel of the song, the 'Gary Glitter beat' and discuss the deeper meaning of the song - the younger generation inheriting debts from the older.

For more info check out the www.ilovemetric.com

The Head And The Heart

I like folk music. There's a new strain of folk music around the world that draws heavily on the "roots" music of a country, reaching back and past the folkies of the 1960s. In the UK you see artists like Mumford and Sons or Laura Marling going back to the early traditional musics of the countries of the UK for their inspiration. Here in the US you see bands like The Head and The Heart or The Civil Wars reaching into more Americana or Appalachian traditions to take their musical cues.

Karen Dalton's Katie Cruel

This is going to go back a few years, to one of my all time favorite folk singers. She originally only released two albums back in the 1960s, but a third one recently came out this year. You can find out more about Karen Dalton (and you should) at her Wikipedia page here.

And her new album 1966 can be found at the Dellmore Recordings site.

Even though the influence probably isn't intended, I think that you can hear strains of her music in more contemporary "country" folk artists like The Civil Wars or The Head and The Heart.

The Limousines

This cute & silly song is bouncing around in my head :)

the kids are disco dancing they're tired of rock and roll
i tried to tell 'em hey that drum machine aint got no soul!
but they dont wanna listen, no they think they heard it all,
they trade those guitars in for drum machines and disco balls

we cant rewind no we've gone to far, the internet killed the video star...

Imagine Dragons

One of my favourite DJs left Alt 7 recently, looking for a new project. She introduced me to this (band and) song, and listening to the lyrics, it seemed fitting to post here:



It's time to begin, isn't it?
I get a little bit bigger, but then,
I'll admit, I'm just the same as I was
Now don't you understand
That I'm never changing who I am?

Alt Nation

I've added a new resource to our list - a link to the internet radio site 'Alt Nation':

http://www.siriusxm.com/altnation.

I noticed, when seeing their top 18 requested songs list that quite a few of the songs on the list are also in my playlist for the week, so that seems to give some indication that we're listening to (fairly) similar music (although my personal list has a few more Now, Now & We are Augustines songs on it!) ;)

The Alt-18 Countdown (Week of April 21)

18. Santigold - "Disparate Youth"
17. Young The Giant - "Apartment"
16. Morning Parade - "Headlights"
15. Chappo - "Come Home"
14. A Silent Film - "Danny, Dakota & The Wishing Well"
13. The Temper Trap - "Need Your Love"
12. Electric Guest - "This Head I Hold"
11. Imagine Dragons - "It's Time"
10. Grouplove - "Tongue Tied"
9. Atlas Genius - "Trojans"
8. Jack White - "Sixteen Saltines"
7. Silversun Pickups - "Bloody Mary (Nerve Endings)"
6. The Shins - "Simple Song"
5. Bombay Bicycle Club - "Shuffle"
4. Of Monsters & Men - "Little Talks"
3. The Wombats - "Jump Into The Fog"
2. Walk The Moon - "Anna Sun"
1. The Black Keys - "Gold On The Ceiling"

Metric - Synthetica

I'm looking forward to the new single (Youth Without Youth, due 1 May), and album (Synthetica, due 12 June) by Metric, so I'm posting what we have so far...

The band's website has a mini-game, where you can unlock parts of the new song's lyrics and video. The band also encourage fans to download the sheet music and post their own renditions of the song! :)



And here's a soundcloud from the site for a commentary from Emily Haines and Jimmy Shaw:

Youth Without Youth

Emily Haines wrote a letter on the bands website in which she said:

"These are exponential times!", someone shouted at me on this topic. For a while I thought it was only my own life that was speeding by. Then I asked around and the consensus is that pretty much everybody is falling over themselves to match the ever quickening pace. What a relief. I'm so happy I asked! The things you consider ordinary or only related to you will be the most challenging to clearly express and also the most universally true. When I wrote the song "Help I'm Alive", I had no idea how many people would relate to the way I was feeling. I put it out there as a personal statement and ended up finding out that a lot of people understood where I was coming from for the first time.

I agree so much with this feeling - especially having just seen '24 Hour Party People' I share Emily's sense of awareness of being immersed in history, the ever-quickening pace and the sometimes overwhelming excitement at living in the times we are living in.

One of those songs...

...that can brighten up a day.

And it's such a  great cover.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJiC6cA3dUA&w=420&h=315]

x

Keep your eyes ahead baby...

Been thinking about certain bands i could mention on here and this one is definitely worth it.

The Helio Sequence - the not so new one on Sub Pop.

Their records are wonderful, warm baths of electro-indie-pop, equal parts organic and synthetic.

Brandon Summer's voice is honeyed and his melodies float like cotton-candy clouds.

Oh and Benjamin Weikel is a machine on the drums - in a good way. Excellent!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiEcI3tE0TM&w=420&h=315]

The album 'Keep Your Eyes Ahead' was released in 2008 and remains my favourite.

It keeps you listening and is very appealing at first attempt.

You should give it a try :)

Agnes

The OK Social Club-The Shape of Things to Come.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCKSdQ1w2io

Still Enough to Hold

Nalamusic comes from my antipodes, somewhere...I mean, Australia.
Song: Restless Embrace/Still Enough to Hold
Instructions: Pick your player/earphones, a bottle of red wine* and go outside. Look for grass and lay on it...Now look up, what do you see? It doesn't matter, close your eyes and listen to this demo:

[soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/42545461" params="auto_play=false&show_artwork=true&color=90d434" width="100%" height="166" iframe="true" /]

*If you don't have a red wine bottle, just grab a Teddy bear...It's still enough to hold.

The Hacienda Must be Built

I'm posting this for Sero.

I just wanted to say - thanks for building the Hacienda, and educating me - and us in that piece of music history. I was so glad to step inside and take part. When I DJed at the Hacienda in SL, I didn't know the history til later - and now it's gone again, I feel it's loss too.

For those who don't know, Sero got the plans from one of the real life Hacienda's building managers, used the plans to build a 3D model of the club, and then opened it up as a club in Secondlife. Art, history and music all fused in one place.

A tip of the hat to Sero, and thank you.

A Map Of The Floating City

Thomas Dolby has released his first NEW album in about 15 years.... And it is fantastic. He pulls from several musical styles, but then he is the son of an archaelogist, so the exposure is evident in everything he's done. I really can't compare this properly to any of his previous work, the closest would be Flat Earth in my opinion, his second album.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbNTQFO9gYI&w=560&h=315]


It runs the gambit from Mediterranean to Cajun and soft jazz... You tell me... It isn't jumbled, it's assembled. Each track has a feel, but you never think that they don't belong together.

I'll be running this tonight for an album review if you want to listen. There will be Flat Earth for comparison, and some of the "12 x 12" remixes, 7pm SLT. Cheers!

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Petruchio/128/146/1502

For Folk's Sake

I've added a link in our resources section to the British-based For Folk's Sake blog. The blog features some fantastic reviews, interviews and news articles: www.forfolkssake.com

Something a little different!

Ok, I kinda felt I had to share a guy I have been pimping during some of my sets as of late. He's been performing since '96 and recording a few tunes here and there since '02.What blows my mind about him not only is his vocal style but when he got discovered by one of the co-founders of Daptone records they put him in front of a band and he said "Just play music I'll sing" and proceeded to make up his lyrics on the spot. So after all of this is said and done he finally released his debut album last year...at the tender age of 64.

This is the title track off his debut CD (and my favorite track on it)

Graveyard Train

Also in the audience enjoying Cash Savage (my last post) were members of Melbourne horror folk band Graveyard Train. In my mind it's hard to beat the all-male chorus, much less the use of chains! Looking forward to their next album, due out in May. Meanwhile this song is from the wonderful "The Drink, The Devil and The Dance".

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6O4BnIW6dIM&w=560&h=315]

Cashed up for the little savages

So....my first ever non-work-related blog. I can't help wondering what on earth I think I'm doing! Feeling an overwhelming need to justify myself, I thought I'd start by promoting some of the Australian artists I love who are generally less well known in other parts of the world. Which brings me to a recent "cry baby" session in a small inner city bar here in Melbourne. These sessions are for parents with little kids - those who so often miss out on all the best gigs because they start only hours before the small fry wake in the morning. For just $5 entry on a Sunday afternoon, once a month, you get face painting (not restricted to the little 'uns), a sausage sizzle, and a monthly guest artist or band...all this AND beer!

What a treat, then, to be offered the marvellous, somewhat enigmatic Cash Savage and the Last Drinks - especially so soon after being introduced to her music via a friend in the UK (to my shame). The 3-4 year olds on the dance floor went wild, and most of us bigger folk were only slightly less excited. The music? "Country for the broken hearted. Blues for the debauched" according to her web site. Yep, that's about it.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZrpzZdtPaQ]

Pendulum

(This is a re-post of a reply I made to Mikkey Magic here)

The thing about dubstep is that it has... alongside that technical brilliance and innovation - this crazy reggae influence. I found this wiki article really helpful:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubstep#Structure.2C_bass_drops.2C_rewinds_and_MCs

The mixture of the two (reggae and electronica) was so unexpected when I first encountered it, something like discovering a ... science-fiction rasta. This song, 'Tarantula' by Pendulum (2005), seems to be about such a character. I love how the wild & outlandish music helps to characterise the character being described by the singer - interestingly enough in the same way that the eerie music in the Aphex Twin helps to bring alive the eerie character in the video...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kJ09FpWoaM

Tarantula is great for describing that jump from reggae to dubstep because of the way the first version of the refrain (with syncopated guitars and even a hint of a West African style brass section) transitions quite quickly into the 'future' - dubstep :)

Of course, this song was released 7 years ago and is quite tame by today's dubstep standards. Especially after Skrillex.


Massive! Time to fix you up something here right now!

Shotta, hitter, serial killer
Go-a your funeral and all drink out your liquor
When you are bury we a-stand next to vicar
Fling on some dirt and make your bury a little quicker
Shouldn't test the youth them in the Tommy Hilfiger
Hug up ya mama, say sorry to ya poppa
All-a get number for ya little sister
I true be cold like Alaska freezer

Black tarantula, time for the massive come sing ya
Black tarantula, don't play with my style I might sting ya
Black tarantula, you want me inject me bacteria
And if ya body goin' stiff and your spine goin' numb
Now come fi get some...

(blank)

70 million smiles for any art lover

This video has been around the interwebs for awhile but it is still praise worthy. If you want to download this on Itunes please don't make the same mistake as me and purchase the "Hold your horses" country band album. There are two bands with the same name. You want the 70 million EP.  Take a shot for every painting you recognize and I'll see you at the bar! - Mik

Flogging Molly

I found this, had it on repeat and can't resist posting it ... Bob Dylan for Judas... Flogging Molly for me :)

Are You Comfortable?

Zach Schimpf is a singer-songwriter from St. Louis, US...I didn't found any bio or even a single phrase about him or about the music he makes. I guess I'll have to classify it somehow...And I hate when I have to call names to things, unless I'm driving.
[I just had an idea!]
So, I will now imagine that I'm comfortably sitted in my car, driving home, when a rusty old van, driven by a Zach's song called "Comfortable", sudendly comes out from a parking bay, making me brake hard.
[I'm listening to the song while doing this exercise]
Me - "You indie, folkish, lo-fi, experimental dreamy thing!"
Song - "Oops, sorry! You know you can download me free?"

Awesome...

[bandcamp track=2268060494 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=dd131c size=venti]

Skrillex

Dubstep is really not my genre, but way back when I first saw it, this song changed me in quite a profound and unexpected way. When I first heard it, it was the most exciting, truly alien music I had heard - and it took me a good week or two to first process it and to find a way to connect this song back to the canon of music that I knew. Beware SCARY bass drops starting at 2:10 til 2:40 :)

My apologies

Perhaps I was too quick to dismiss dubstep. Granted, 90% of the people that listen to it just do so to piss off their parents, but there are some wonderful things happening in the other 10%. I just HAVE to share this video with somebody. A guy sits down on a bench, he walks around, he moves in strange ways, all to a dubstep remix of a Foster the People indie music song. Yet.....there is something about this that gives it artistic merit. There are no editing effects or trickery in this video. Just a guy who knows how to move his body.  - Mik

Prove you're not a music snob and click the link

Currently listening to...

...the new album from Blood Red Shoes, In Time To Voices, their third and, possibly, best album to date.

Here's the video for the first single, Cold, released from the album.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-yxwXIrQ-E&w=560&h=315]

You can listen to the album at Grooveshark. For more information on where to obtain this great album, or to learn more about Blood Red Shoes, check out their official website at www.bloodredshoes.co.uk.

Summersongs

Milk Punx here performing this summertime ballad. Local Manchester uk Band destined for great things
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJmtBh-vQbs]

If it ever gets sunny I shall stick this in my car and go for a drive I recon..

Judas

Thank you Ellen!

Watching the Ellen show recently she featured this artist, Birdy. 15 years old, wise WAY beyond her age, great singer and piano player.... I ran her album to great reviews by the listeners. If you haven't already, give it a listen.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlaeJ6k75cY&w=560&h=315]

Bent Cousin?

My first and possibly upcoming words at the Cantina will go to almost unknown artists/bands that might deserve a bit more attention...Some of them also write funny things about themselves in their pages, wich happens to make things a lot more easy when it comes to describe a certain sonority. Just like bentcousin!
bentcousin are twins Pat and Whalesun and they make cutecore and acid punk, embracing charm, glamour, lies and magic..."'bentcousin want to play with your aunt, to try on her clothes, don’t say we can’t."
"Sexy", "classy", "Lily Allen" and "cute" are words used on the timeline comments, enjoy!

[soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/38866388" iframe="true" /]

Grouplove is MGMT getting it on with the Pixies

Words of Wisdom

Never trust a happy song, truer words have never been spoken. Are they from Los Angeles? Are they from Manhattan? Do I care? Grouplove has been described as folk rock and compared to Neutral Milk Hotel. I can hear a bit of that on the track 'Ichin on a photograph' which is like a more polished NMH but never abandoning the Kim Deal bass line. My ears hear some MGMT influence, a dash of The Cure, and a liberal dousing with Pixie dust. Colours reminds me of what the pixies might have sounded like if the Polyphonic Spree took a crack at singing duties. I don't mean to suggest Grouplove is a 'me too' band rather that they wear their musical influences on their shirt sleeve, and what a big shirt it is and with such a catchy slogan. 'Tongue Tied' has a nice MGMT feel to it but with the carefree sensibilities of a modern indie group like Dirty Projectors or the aforementioned Polyphonic Spree. By the time we arrive at 'Slow' we move somewhere south of Sigur Ros and the band begins to show some range with sweeping synth arpeggios that support rather than dominate the music, and a perfect hint of bell toned guitar. Originally a self released EP the band was signed and have since released a full album which includes the initial EP tracks. This is a pretty solid debut album and well worth your time. -Mik

The Shins return to form

A bit of old and a bit of new.

2008 saw a lot of changes for the Shins. They left their label SubPop and began work on their new album to be released on James Mercer's Aural Apothecary label. I personally worried for the future of the band. There was the Milquetoast "Wincing the night away" and several lineup changes including the departure of drummer Jesse Sandoval. I'm happy to say that in spite of all of the new, 'Port of Morrow' is a proper Shins album. Melodic vocal harmonies interweave wonderfully with complex but accessible guitar and drum work. It's hard to describe what makes The Shins sound like The Shins but it wasn't there on the last album and it's returned and made me a happy fan.  While some of their older work could be called melancholy this album has a positive and upbeat sound to it that responds well to repeat listening. It's the kind of album you would put on for a sunny day and picnics in the park with your sweetheart. 'Bait and switch' is an early stand out with a lively Beck type of groove and supported by clear and expressive guitar work and lilting backing vocals, it begs to move your body to it's rhythms. While 'For a Fool' elicits memories of 'Pink Bullets' and a pleasant diversion into alt country landscapes, the real gem here is 'Port of Morrow'. Mercer nearly finds a new voice for this song with it's falsetto Buckley like vocals and inspired chord arrangements. If this album were considered a bit of old and a bit of new, the title track is definitely a new sound for The Shins. - Mik

White Apple Tree does not disappoint

Young, smart, and full of art.

White Apple Tree is the pet project of brothers Ryan and Taylor Rawhon from San Diego, California. While there will be inevitable surf rock, ska, and punk, images when thinking of the southern CA music scene, this band is pure electro rock goodness. They are barely old enough to drink alcohol yet they already have a signature sound and a refined sense of tone, texture, and energy. Their music is like water, it can wash over you and refresh you yet it has the power to break stone and grind mountains into the sea. Their debut album is a clear winner in spite of their age and relative inexperience. You get lush synthscapes and velveteen lyrics cascading with the energy of youth and love and pain all wrapped up in a package you can dance to. There are obvious electropop influences but at it's core there are four on the floor beats and a rock bassline. Songs like 'Mr Sanity' reminds one of Franz Ferdinand, while killer tracks such as 'Youth' and 'Broken Bones' are so carefully mixed you will be hard pressed to pick any single influence. At times I am reminded of Interpol, She wants Revenge, VAST, and The Killers. The lyrics are often light and full of the promise of a narrative that can unfold only in your mind. Open with possibilities and evocative of passionate feelings, this is music to live by. I haven't heard such a polished debut album from such young artists since Muse. I can't wait to see what they bring us next because something tells me they didn't stumble into this sound on accident and their sophmore effort should be something to behold. - Mik

Mono

In the third video in the post rock series, Japanese band Mono (and the visual artist Acidman) provided me with 12 of the most beautiful minutes of my life.

Above is the video for Mono's 'Ashes in the Snow'.

maybeshewill

This is the second in the series of three post rock videos. My favourite part has to be at 2:50 when the heavily distorted guitar inserts itself into the quietly building song... only to fade away over the next 25 seconds.

Above is a fan video for maybeshewill's 'He Films The Clouds Pt.2'.

65daysofstatic

Post rock bands like 65daysofstatic, maybeshewill and Mono create incredible soundscapes in their music. When this is combined with the work of skilled visual artists, the result can be truly amazing. 

Above is the official video for 65daysofstatic's 'Drove through ghosts to get here'.

The Vaccines

This song is very much the song of the moment, and I would be amiss if I didn't post it here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PfE9iLBvkU

Break me on the thirty-seventh hour
Tout me, doubt me, show me all of your power
I will watch you rise on my back from the ground
Friend or foe?
I don't know
Do you like what you've found?

I will one day shine with you
I'll shine on a faithful few

Show we 'low quotations
Have you earned your stripes?
Fabricate salvation
Lord, I know your type
I've known you all my life
I was always wrong, you all in white

Brush my cause aside with little trouble
Oh my god, I think I'm hearing double
I will watch you rise on my back from afar
Friend or foe?
I don't know now you're up in the stars

But I will one day shine with you

I'll shine on a faithful few

Show we 'low quotations
Have you earned your stripes?
Fabricate salvation
Lord, I know your type
I've known you all my life
I was always wrong, you all in white

Show we 'low quotations
Have you earned your stripes?
Fabricate salvation
Lord, i know your type
I've known you all my life
I was always wrong, you all in white
Show we 'low quotations
Have you earned your stripes?
Fabricate salvation
Lord, I know your type
I've known you all my life
I was always wrong, you all in white


(Lyrics from the band's site)

I use to care but

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9YoqNa4868]

"A worried man with a worried mind
No one in front of me and nothing behind
There’s a woman on my lap and she’s drinking champagne
Got white skin, got assassin’s eyes
I’m looking up into the sapphire-tinted skies
I’m well dressed, waiting on the last train."

This song has been trapped in my head for a good 6 months.  A lot of stuff has been said about Dylan but here and there its true. The man is channeling something. This version from the Oscars in my opinion is better than the album version. 'Dylan's steely gaze, the enunciation of the lyrics all come together with a fiery intensity.  A lot of musicians  come and go one or 2 albums and thats it, but this guy has defining the genre since the early 60's. There times when I don't know why I  listen to anything else

."Lot of water under the bridge, lot of other stuff too
Don’t get up gentlemen, I’m only passing through"

In its heart its a song about failure ,change and of course love. But the portents in the performance cuts like a knife.

I just can't shake it..

Judas

We Are Augustines

I need to get this up here - 3 songs by We Are Augustines:

[soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/playlists/1402561" params="auto_play=false&show_artwork=true&color=ff7700" width="100%" height="450" iframe="true" /]

Best. Thing. Ever

This is epic Weird Al Yankovic.... There isn't much to say other than enjoy your meal.......

[soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/2088823" params="auto_play=false&show_artwork=true&color=ff7700" width="100%" height="166" iframe="true" /]

A Place to Bury Strangers

There's a stack of new music being released by A Place to Bury Strangers this year - an EP as well as a full length album (due in June). A Place to Bury Strangers mix the words 'loud' and 'dreamy' in the most pleasant way, bringing to mind 80s experimantal noise bands like Jesus and Mary Chain, Sonic Youth and My Bloody Valentine. So far this year, A Place to Bury Strangers (also known as APTBS) have released the EP, 'Onwards To The Wall EP' (2012).

[soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/32761557" params="auto_play=false&show_artwork=true&color=ff7700" width="100%" height="166" iframe="true" /]

Above is the soundcloud for the song 'So far Away',  from the 'Onwards to the Wall' EP, and embedded below is the official video:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJ-QY_rkJLI]

On April 2nd, the Dead Oceans record label site posted a review, a track and a track listing of the new album: "Guitars as jet engines; guitars as haunted electronics; guitars as filling-melting white heat: A Place To Bury Strangers’ new album Worship is explosive, visceral, and dark." (from the Dead Oceans site). The song is perhaps one of their most sonically focused and accessible to date and... I love it :)

[soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/41770593" params="auto_play=false&show_artwork=true&color=ff7700" width="100%" height="166" iframe="true" /]

Above: 'You are the One' from APTBS's 'Worship' upcoming album (due to be released in June, 2012).

Now, Now

(Picture from the Now, Now website: nownowband.com)

I want to share this song by Now, Now. Their latest album, "Threads" is out, and they have been touring as supporting act for The Naked and Famous.

[soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/30095010" params="auto_play=false&show_artwork=true&color=ff7700" width="100%" height="166" iframe="true" /]