When comes to sex, many rappers broach the subject with lurid tales of menage`a trois, endless one night stands and other assorted stories of groupie love. Versis takes a more nuanced, lyrically dexterous approach to love and sex with the track "Slow Down," from his album.iLLCANDESCENT While not denying there's some ladies "that he wouldn't mind beseeching" he's also aware of the potential consequences of thinking with the wrong head. Watch the video for song below.
Solange has dropped a previously unreleased track, "Left Side Drive." Recorded about two years ago, the song is actually a cover version of British band Boards of Canada. The singer, known for her love of all things indie, collaborated with the group for her last album, 2008's Sol-AngelAnd The Hadley Street Dreams, is a huge fan of the band.
"It’s completely unofficial, and was just inspired by the song which i have had a deep love affair with for years.I am a huge Boards of Canada fan, and got the chance to work with them on Sol-Angel on ‘This Bird’. Still feel honored to this day,” she said.
"Beats Tripple 1" is the latest offering from cirKus's new album Medicine. A family super group of sorts. the group is made up of hip-pop pioneer NehNeh Cherry, her husband Cameron McVey, their daughter Lolita Moon and friend/beat maker Karmil. Driven by a scratchy, grimy bass line, twisted vocals and dark, distorted electronic effects, the song pulsates with a tough, aggressive groove that's more punk rock anarchy than electro pop cool. Medicine drops on May 10. Until then, listen below.
Hamburg-based dance duo Digitalism, made up of Jens Moelle and Ismail "Isi" Tuefekci have released the first single from their upcoming album I Love You Dude, the follow up to 2007's Idealism. From the moment the bendy guitar kicks in, you know you're in a for a trippy ride. Combining lo-fi guitars, robotic bass, and melancholy synths, "2 Hears" sounds coldly detached while still conveying raw emotion. I Love You Dude drops on June 21st.
"Miss Me When I'm Gone," a song by The Beatings' front man Cameron Keiber's solo project Eldridge Rodriguez, is a minimalist piece of pop/rock, with acoustic guitars and simple but steady drum work. Joined by guest vocalist Sarah Borges, the track's lyrics ruefully tell an ex-lover/friend how much they'll lose by leaving.
Lines like "Like a face that needs a fist/Like a razor that needs a wrist," show how serious the duo are, while humorous ones like "I tried to clear my aching head/By running naked through the streets/They came and tied me to bed/I will admit this was a minor defeat" add a bit of levity.
"Miss Me When I'm Gone" is from Eldridge Rodriguez's album You Are Released, which was released back in March. Listen below.
C'mon girls, do you believe in world domination? That's the message of Beyonce's new track "Girl (Who Run The World)." A fiery female empowerment anthem, the song features stabs of samples and synthesizers pared against pounding drums, while the rafter-raising chants and Beyonce's powerful, rapid-fire delivery create a colossal wall of sound.
Brian Suarez, a.k.a Allies, caught the attention of DJs everywhere last month when he released his DJ Mixtape, featuring everyone from Florence and The Machine to Royksopp. His new track "Oceans (Thade Remix)" melds synth pop and electro dance grooves to create a sound that is both pulsating and meditative. Listen below.
Darlings of the Miami avant-dance scene, duo Afrobeta--made up of Cuci Amador and Tony Smurphio--have been tearing up dance floors since 2006. "Nighttime" the first single from their forthcoming album Under The Sheets, a follow up to last year's Do You Party?, is the kind of sleek electro-pop befitting such a title. Full of loopy bottomless bass and seductive synths, the track is made for dark, sweaty strobe light-filled nights. Listen below:
Poly Styrene's latest single "Thrash City," a hooky slice of pop punk premiered on Rolling Stone yesterday. The track is the first single from the singer's forthcoming album Generation Indigo, set for release on April 26th and produced by Youth, best known for his work with The Verve, Killing Joke, The Fireman and Edwyn Collins. Listen to and download "Thrash City" below.
While Holy Ghost!'s first offering "Do It Again," showcased the duo's ability to create cutting edge, dancefloor anarchy their new release, "Wait & See" reveals they also have a knack for crafting straightforward pop songs,. Carried by a catchy four-note melody motif, they strip away the synthesized zaniness, leaving space for anxious, emotional lyrics about a relationship.
Holy Ghost! are currently on tour with Cut Copy. Listen and download "Wait & See" below, and view the full list of tour dates.
03/29 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club*
03/30 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club*
03/31 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Trocadero*
04/01 – New York, NY @ Terminal 5*
04/02 – New York, NY @ Terminal 5*
04/04 – Boston, MA @ House of Blues*
04/05 – Montreal, QC @ Club Soda*
04/07 – Toronto, ON @ Sound Academy*
04/08 – Chicago, IL @ Riviera*
04/09 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue*
04/12 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox Sodo*
04/16 – San Francisco, CA @ The Grand Ballroom*
04/17 – San Francisco, CA @ The Grand Ballroom*
04/18 – Los Angeles, CA @ Echoplex
04/20 – Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater*
04/21 – Austin, TX @ Stubb’s* 04/22 – Austin, TX @ Stubb’s*
04/23 – New Orleans, LA @ Republic*
04/29 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
Rubblebucket will release their latest album Omega La La on June 7th, a follow-up to their 2009 self-titled sophomore album. For the new disc the Brooklyn eight-piece collaborated with producer/mixer Eric Broucek, best known for his work with Cut Copy, LCD Soundsystem, Hercules and Love Affair.
The album's first offering "Silly Fathers," with its sunny guitar chords and brass flourishes, channels both upbeat indie pop and jazz, an unconventional style the group explored on tracks like the giddy "Came Out Of A Lady," which has been reworked for the new release. The band also incorporates indie rock, pop and Afro-Cuban rhythms on other album tracks like "Down In The Yards," "L'homme" and "Raining."
Rubblebucket will also be hitting the road for an extensive spring tour set to kick off tonight in Cleveland. The band will make stops in Seattle, Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington D.C. before wrapping the trek in July in Virginia. View the full tour schedule and listen to "Silly Fathers" below:
03/23: Cleveland, OH @ Beachland
03/24: Madison, WI @ Majestic Theatre *
03/25: Chicago, IL @ Martyr's *
03/26: Rock Island, IL @ Rock Island Brewing Co. *
03/27: Bloomington, IL @ Bluebird Nightclub *
03/28: Iowa City, IA @ Mission Creek Music Fest: Gabes
03/29: Kalamazoo, MI @ The Strutt
04/03: Kerhonkson, NY @ Rock and Roll Resort
04/07: Boone, NC @ Legends *
04/08: Chattanooga, TN @ Rhythm & Brews *
04/09: Athens, GA @ New Earth Music Hall *
04/10: Asheville, NC @ Emerald Lounge
04/14: Portland, ME @ Port City Music Hall **
04/15: Woodstock, NY @ Bearsville Theater **
04/16: Northampton, MA @ Pearl Street Ballroom **
04/20: New York, NY @ Le Poisson Rouge **
04/21: Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall **
04/22: Ithaca, NY @ Castaways **
04/23: Syracuse, NY @ Westcott Theater
04/27: Washington, DC @ U Street Music Hall
04/28: Philadelphia, PA @ World Cafe Live **
04/29: Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground Ballroom **
05/01: Phoenix, AZ @ McDowell Mountain Music Festival #
05/04: Boise, ID @ Reef
05/05: Bend, OR @ Cinco De Mayo Street Fair ##
05/06: Seattle, WA @ Nectar
05/07: Portland, OR @ Mt. Tabor
05/10: Eureka, CA @ Red Fox Tavern
05/11: Sebastopol, CA @ Hopmunk Tavern
05/13: San Francisco, CA @ Boom Boom Room
05/14: Los Angeles, CA @ The Mint
05/15: Joshua Tree, CA @ Joshua Tree Music Festival
05/19: Denver, CO @ Cervantes
05/21: Chicago, IL @ Martyrs
06/18: Grand Rapids, MI @ Founders Fest ###
06/30 - 07/03: Rothbury, MI @ Electric Forest Festival %
07/09: Schuylkill, PA @ Midsummer Meltdown
07/16: Greenfield, MA @ Green River Fest
07/29: Floyd, VA @ Floyd Fest %%
07/30: Floyd, VA @ Floyd Fest %%
* = w/ Toubab Krewe
** = Million Young opens
# = w/ Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeros, Black Joe Lewis & more
## = w/ Ozomatli
### = w/ Galactic
% = w/ String Cheese, Tiësto, Pretty Lights, Bassnectar, Edward Sharpe & more
%% = w/ Grace Potter, Robert Randolph, Old Crow Medicine Show & more
When your single comes with tagline as "the most extravagant single in history," you better bring the goods. While such a description is still debatable (you know with personal opinions and all) "Catcher In The Rye" will definitely set feet a tappin' and have you pressing the replay button.
The tracks melds stun-gun new wave guitars, rubbery, funkdafied bass, techno back beats, electronic samples and hand claps are spread over vocals that are both pop enough to be instantly memorable while still brimming with ferocious attitude. DATAROCK's California EP, currently streaming exclusively on AOL Spinner, and "Catcher In The Rye" is available for download on iTunes. Listen to "Catcher In The Rye" below:
French electro pop singer Emilie Simon exploded in her homeland back in 2003, earning three Victoires de la Musique (France's Grammy equivalent) over the course of three albums, becoming an influential force in music as well as fashion. Best known internationally for her musical score of the hit documentary March Of The Penguins, Simon settled in Brooklyn to record her latest album The Big Machine, set for release on April 26th. In the meantime, she has also released a Rainbow EP, currently available on iTunes.
The EP's Emilie remix provides an interesting listen. Production-wise the track is full of adrenaline-charged bass, and atmospheric synths and samples. But the standout is Simon's voice itself, a bewitching, quirky and commanding instrument that brings to mind a modern-day Kate Bush. Listen to the remix here.
Daddy Lion use a wealth of found footage--from Frankenstein and Dracula to collapsing buildings and little kids breakdancing--in the video for "Falling To Pieces." The diverse montage of images really fit together, creating a good visual companion that adds an extra emotional weight (and the occasional dash of humor) to the song's somber message.
Listen to the song here, and watch the video below:
Sweden-based band CirKus serve up a subdued, tense electro pop sound on their latest single "Bells." Pushed along by a thumping and urgent bassline, the song gives an air of foreboding menace with its ominous samples that jump out of the darkness like a jack in the box and chromatic synthesizer lines that twist and contort like a backwoods road. Meanwhile vocalist Cameron McVey mournfully croons the lines, "cause we never live / never live / live and learn."
The single is set to drop on March 22nd. McVey, who has worked with everyone from The Slits, Chrissie Hynde, Cher and Gorillaz to Michael Stipe and Massive Attack, looked to his own inner circle to form CirKus. The band is a family affair of sorts, made up of McVey, his wife Neneh Cherry, their daughter Lolita and guitarist and family friend Matt Karmil. The group's latest release Medicine comes out May 10th. Until check out the video for "Bells" below:
Need a little respite from the non-stop stomp of electro pop? "Falling" by Australian band The Waifs, is the perfect antidote. A frolicking piece of folk pop, the song features a harmonica solo, a blast of trumpet, and warm, down-home guitars that twist and turn like leaves in the wind, conjuring images of soft summer nights under a full moon. Take a listen below:
Sacramento genre-busters (genre smashers is more like it) Tera Melos have released a new track from their six-song Zoo Weather EP, currently available on cassette (cassette, really?) as well as digital download. The new song, "Manar The Magic," filled to the brim with rollicking electronic effects, overdubbed vocals and a spoken-word cameo from Mike Watt, seems to pick up where the band's last release Pantagonian Rats left off. Zoo Weather contains three new tracks and three remixes, including one by Japanese noise legends Melt Banana.
Two more tracks and a deluxe digital edition of Pantagonian Rats will be available soon. Tera Melos is currently on a co-headlining tour with guitar goddess Marnie Stern, set to end in on March 19th. Listen to "Manar The Magic" and view the remaining tour dates below:
03-06 Cambridge, MA - The Middle East *
03-07 Montreal, Quebec - Il Motore *
03-08 Toronto, Ontario - Wrongbar *
03-09 Kalamazoo, MI - The Strutt *
03-10 Chicago, IL - Subterranean *
03-11 Omaha, NE - Slowdown Jr *
03-12 Denver, CO - Moes *
03-13 Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court *
03-15 Seattle, WA - The Vera Project *
03-16 Portland, OR - Branx *
03-18 San Francisco, CA - Bottom Of The Hill *
03-19 Sacramento, CA - Sol Collective *
Chicago's own Chrissy Murderbot, best known for his playful juke remixes and his "My Year Of Mixtapes," in which he recorded a new mixtape every week Kanye-style, ventures out into the genres of footwork, R&B and dancehall on "Bussin' Down". Along with guest star DJ Spinn, Murderbot creates a fun, frenetic and innovative track that will please club rats and mainstream music fans alike. Listen below:
After months of anticipation, "Born This Way" has now been officially unleashed upon the world. My thoughts? The track sounds a lot like Madonna's "Express Yourself," but updated for 2011. Or a slightly sped up variation on Pink's "God Is A DJ."
The lyrics are very uplifting and empowering, and could be seen as an homage to Carl Bean 70's hit "Born This Way." The song does grow on you with each listen, but I was expecting something a little different, since she was advertising the new album as more rock-influenced. In short, it's good and it'll definitely sell, but not an EPIC, stop-you-in-your tracks hit. Listen for yourself below:
