Super sweet mashup--or mayhaps a remix--of "Skeleton Song" by Kate Nash. It's the Nash-riginal, somewhat truncated, with signature Bang panache and dub-step distortions interspersed. It's an awesome remake of the song, preserving the, what now seems long-lost, Kate Nash style, and the only complaint I have of the track is the abrupt end, peetering out when it feels like there a lot more to offer. Still, up to that point it a real triumph.
I feel like I make the comparison to Iron and Wine a lot--perhaps it's a thing I have, a complex I'm developing... But for this new track from The Middle East, from their first full-length album I Want That You Are Always Happy, the comparison is apt. "Months" is sad- and southern-sounding, winding through unpredictable acoustic plucking, incorporating a simple bass drum and maraca midway through, and adding some breathy vocals and whistling, straight from The Book of Beam. It's a lovely track though. With each release The Middle East seem to put out a track that really captures you. With their EP, The Recordings of The Middle East, it was "Blood" and with their newest installment, with songs like "Months, there's sure to be something to get you. I Want That You Are Always Happy is out in their native Australia already, and will be available in the US in July.
Fitz and the Tantrums have recently been making the rounds on the late night talk show circuit with their song "Moneygrabber" from their latest album Pickin' up the Pieces (available on Dangerbird Records). The soul/rhythm and bass sextet (five of which are Tantrums) is speared by Michael Fitzpatrick (the Fitz!) and the group have an old school sound that has been re-realized in the last few years with acts like Amy Winehouse, Duffy, Mark Ronson, et cetera, and "Don't Gotta Work It Out" definitely falls squarely within those boundaries. The song funks along with a bouncing piano, soulful brass hits, and disparate lyrics about break-up building through a sing-along choruses (chorii?) to an awesome instrumental end (around 3:30). Pretty cool.
In general, I am distraught that I will not be able to attend the Atlanta show of the upcoming Bon Iver tour due to the extreme cost - EXTREME! - I am happy that the tour signals the imminent release of Bon's self-titled, sophomore album due out next month. Some tracks from Bon Iver are already out there including the one below, "Calgary", which is, in my opinion, super awesome amazing. It's very anthemic, grandiose sounding, a little like Coldplay on A Rush of Blood - though, i'm not sure being compared to Coldplay is a compliment these days. I like it. Though shooting for a larger sound, it still retains a tenderness that is unique to Bon Iver and I'm looking forward to what the rest of the album brings.
I've always been a firm believer that one of the true marks of a song is how many people make awesome covers of it (and when I say "firm believer," I mean that I seem to recall blogging something similar about the song "Stillness is the Move" :P). The Knife's "Heartbeats" -- downright near-perfect electro heaven to begin with -- got reworked by José González into a beautiful acoustic arrangement. And now, Ellie Goulding has made her own version. Though similar to González's cover, Goulding's voice lends itself especially well to the mood the song and the gently lullabying accompanying guitars. Take a listen, you will totes hearts it.
Listen to "Heartbeats" here:
In the event that Soundcloud take down the track above, you can listen to it at Cover Me -- a blog dedicated to covers -- or on the BBC Radio 1 website for whom Ellie Goulding recorded the cover as part of the March 12 2011 Live Lounge.
One day, way back went, in the days of yore if you will (I think I will), a one Michael James (writer of this here blog) and his talented/vivacious co-host Katie Krieger were allowed to be on GCSU's campus radio station WGUR 88.9FM The Edge, during which time they both developed an unhealthy obsession with the New South Wales house duo, Bag Raider. Rarely a week went by when you didn't here the dance-tastic thump of "Fun Punch" on the show. Sure it was mostly for background music, but when it comes to radio that still counts as airplay.
Well, a few months back Bag Raiders released their first full length, 12-track album called Bag Raiders. Now, I'm taking it slow getting around to listening to it because, well... you know what it's like: when you really like a band you don't want their new stuff to suck. So you put off the actual listening of the new album so you can still be a fan a little longer, right? Okay, so maybe that's not true. Maybe I just didn't check back in to see if the Raiders had made any new music. Look, blogging about music is hard. Do you know how much music is out there? Currently the total number of songs in existence are:
I chose to share "Snake Charmer" with you to showcase a departure from style for the pair. Previously, with tracks like "Fun Punch" and "Shooting Stars," there was a pop-y hook to get down with wrapped in trance (dance) synth such that each song wouldn't feel out of place in one of the fancy dancing night-discotheques but was so raucous that a person could not enjoy them singularly in their home. Well, "Snake Charmer" is completely different. It a little ethnic, a little funky, it diverges (more math terminology!) but in a way that is rhythmically superior.
Fishing, despite being a band that is almost impossible to Google and find anything close to what you're looking for, are creating amazing electro-pop ambient awesomeness all the way from Australia (where all the decent electronic music comes from). The song "OOOO" made it on to my Top 40 of 2010 list, and now, with the joyousness of summer approaching, it seems only fitting to get some more Fishing in our lives.
A nice lad introduced me to this Fishing remix of The Book of Ships song "Aarg," very much in-line with the up-beat pop-sona the band elicit. A catchy hook picks up the song and repeats almost non-stop while strange falsetto and electronic beats punctuate throughout the song's progression. As mentioned with the whole "impossible Googling," you probably won't easily find this song for super-illegal download (why, internet generation, do you insist on hurting the music industry so!? -- wait, does that rationale hold for unsigned bands...?) but you can stream the remix below. Yay!
You've probably already heard the hype surrounding Kanye's latest record My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, that it is... pretty good. Pitchfork's review (by Ryan Dombal) gave the album a 10.0 (which never happens [check out the list of 10.0ers]), Rolling Stone awarded it 5 stars (which only happens with reissues of Bob Dylan albums), and currently (as of 11/29/2010 11:40AM) Metacritic has Fantasy collating at 93 (that may be an inaccurate use of the word 'collating'). The overall consensus seems to be that, though West's Fantasy may be crowded, confusing, and - as the name suggests - dark, it is also something quite marvelous. By now you're probably familiar with the singles from the album, so I wanted to share something else. "All of the Lights" is a track powered by a cacophonous drum line and looming brass hook (no, not like the Peter Pan villain...). Delightful! Y'know, in a somewhat terrifying kind of way.
If you're a Sufjan fan, the awesomeness of the indie/folk wizard is rarely up for dispute, but for the casual fan you're probably wondering about the relevancy of a Detroiter sing-songer that hasn't released anything you've bothered listening to since 2005/2006's Illinoise and its follow-up. Well, the soul-searching is over with Stevens' Age of Adz, released a little over two weeks ago. The album is, as always, a critical success - the artist has never suffered in that department - but Adz marks a return to (a somewhat) commercial viability whilst maintaining an art-house independence. "Vesuvius" is one such track from the album that retains all the Sufjanian . . . "creativity" . . . Its inception is in minimal, harmonious glitch, building to an eruption of, well, recorders and a hippie chorus in a way that is unexpectedly magical. It may take a while for the aforementioned magic to rub off on to you, but once it does, you'll find "Vesuvius" to be a Sufjan essential.
If you think the only exciting things happening this November 2 were the election and the Dancing With The Stars results show (Tuesdays 9|8c on Fox) then you'd be mistaken. You've obviously let the fact that indie darlings Matt & Kim released their third album Sidewalks on the 2nd slip your mind. How is the album? I don't know. I forgot it was coming out because I was too busy watching the Dancing With The Stars results show. But here's a song that will help you get in the indie mood - the awkward, elbowy indie mood - and give you an insight in to what to expect from the LP. "Wires" is distinctive Matt & Kim with it's lo-fi driving rhythm and sparse electro hints mostly drowned out by Matt Johnson's crowd wrangling vocals. It's upbeat. It's fun. Enjoy it now! If you like it, there's a whole album of this kind of stuff.
Best Coast infuse the static, rolling noise of west coast noise pop/rock into their debut single from the July 2010 album Crazy for You. The single, "Boyfriend." despite being slightly grungy and dissonant, is perhaps one of the bands catchiest and most radio-friendly. 2010 has been a good year for the LA, lo-fi trio, "Boyfriend" being named a top pick by Pitchfork, teaming up with Kid Cudi for a Converse promo track, other multivarious happenings... The band even have a b-list encrusting of celebrity fans (according to the Wikipedia page about them) which include Will Arnett (Arrested Development), Rivers Cuomo (Weezer and that B.o.B. song), Mark Hoppus (various enumerated bands), Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth and long time owner of gender-ambiguous first name), and Bill Murray (actually an A-lister). I'm thinking of starting my own Wikipedia page on which I will update daily my list of fans and/or probable fans. First on the list will obviously be Joel Madden from Good Charlotte and Charlize Theron from the pichaz.
Listen to "Boyfriend":
Download "Boyfriend" here through Pitchfork [Click continue reading and enter email address].
Sounding like a cross between Passion Pit and the soundtrack to a brat pack movie, "Young Blood" by The Naked & Famous is an upbeat, anthemic tour de force from the New Zealand fivesome. Who knows what goes on the the floating livestock barge insignia'd NZ, but the past few years has seen some excellent electronic music emanating from this Madagascar, as well as from its Africa, Australia. And it's not just an underground, clandestine, indie-electro presence either; no, New Zealanders have the taste and sense to put this The Naked & Famous track at the top of their RIANZ Singles Chart. Kudos, entire population. The band have just finished an album tour with Kids of 88 for Passive Me, Aggressive You, a tour which, considering the merit of the two bands, must have been wicked rad.
