August 21, 2008
You'll often come across references to Cornelius when people talk up Shugo Tokumaru. At first blush it may seem lazy -- both artists come to us from Japan, see -- but it isn't for lack of imagination. Actually it's on account of imagination, on both artists' part, for the way they deal with and digest Western pop idioms. Tokumaru's third album Exit is getting Stateside release this fall (it's out in Japan), which is good news for people who like good music. The 28 year old plays every note, sings in Japanese, and has a breezy easiness in being totally inventive. "Green Rain" is our track for your sampling, just another instance of Shug's taking familiar touchstones (the Beatles are all over this one) into more eclectic and fantastical spaces. (Toy marching band? Willy Wonka candy coated dream factory? You tell me.)
Continue reading New Shugo Tokumaru - "Green Rain"...
Posted at 2:31 PM by amrit in
Tags: Shugo Tokumaru
latest by fyk
August 20, 2008
I know what you read that as and no, this is not a Craig Wedren Remixes TV On The Radio post. The Dead Science are a Seattle-based avant rock trio, set to put out an LP based strictly on obscure comic book and Wu-Tang Clan references, which is a thing avant rock trios do. They'll probably remind you more of Xiu Xiu than Wu-Tang Forever, but the Dead Science are dead serious about this Wu-Tang thing. "Make Mine Marvel," a track from their forthcoming Villanaire LP, is full of straight up rips of verses from Forever's "Triumph." The version we're focusing on, though, is the Craig Dub Plate Mix, so named for the helping hand of Shudder master Craig Wedren, spiking the beats and rearranging things to give 'em a full on eerie intonation. Singer Sam Mickens is definitely from the Jamie Stewart school of singing, but when you hear him flip up into head voice while things get noisy and knotty behind him, it's not hard to see why someone like Mr. Wedren would be drawn to it.
Continue reading New Dead Science (Feat. Craig Wedren) - "Make Mine Marvel (Craig Dub Plate Mix)"...
Posted at 6:15 PM by amrit in ,
Tags: Craig Wedren | Shudder To Think | The Dead Science | Wu-Tang Clan
latest by Jonathon
This week's Drop comes from Texas indie rockers Centro-matic. The previously unreleased wintry tune was produced by the band and Matt Pence during sessions for double-LP Dual Hawks, which is composed of half Centro-matic songs and half South San Gabriel songs. Both bands are led by songwriter Will Johnson, who answered our questions about wrapping gifts and donning gay apparel while giving us a listen to Centro-matic's "Christmas 83 (Make Fun Of My Sweaters)." Put your ears on it here.
Also ... got a valid passport? Interested in beautiful music and people? This week we're giving one entrant (and a guest of their choosing) a flight and tickets to the annual Iceland Airwaves festival.
Continue reading The 'Gum Drop LI: Hear New Centro-matic, Win Free Trip For Two To Iceland Airwaves...
Posted at 2:48 PM in ,
Tags: Centro-matic
latest by sarahspy
Jennifer O'Connor's just your average singing/songwriting type, getting called up to cover Dylan at Lincoln Center here, knocking out an album with producer John Agnello in 12 days there. Her new album Here With Me's out this week via Matador, and on its first official video, director Zacarias Bezunartea plays out the tune full of relationship stalemates with the relatable stress, and mental and spatial chess, of sitting stranded in the kitchen with the one that's always in your mind but never really there. And this is Brooklyn, so don't say that "she could always just live alone." Do you know how high rent is here?
Continue reading New Jennifer O'Connor Video - "Always In Your Mind"...
Posted at 2:22 PM by amrit in , ,
Tags: Jennifer O'Connor
latest by erik
It's been a year and a half since Dan Rossen and his longtime songwriting partner Fred Nicolaus dropped us a demo of "No One Does It Like You" as a tease to the duo's first Department Of Eagles album since their years-old debut Whitey And The Moon UK. It wasn't that D.O.E.'s next album was then imminent, per se, but I also don't think things weren't supposed to take quite this long to launch -- you can probably blame that on Grizzly Bear's nonstop activity and various offers they could not refuse. Anyway the time has finally come, or it least it will come in about six weeks, when In Ear Park makes its way out on 4AD. We heard the title track earlier this summer, and now it's the album version of what logically must-be-the-album's-best-song because-it-is-really-good, "No One Does It Like You."
Continue reading New Department Of Eagles - "No One Does It Like You" (Album Version)...
Posted at 9:49 AM by amrit in
Tags: Chris Taylor | Dan Rossen | Department Of Eagles | Grizzly Bear
latest by Amanda
August 19, 2008
A slab of Ssion is always a great way to the end the day, so let's get into it. Ssion man Cody Critcheloe remains busy: He took a director's credit on Tilly & The Wall's Beat Control," gave his mom a punk makeover in "Ah-Ma," and later hit us with the trashy radness of "Day Job." And yet none of that prepared me for Cody's latest directorial effort, this time for Fools Gold track "A Wolves Eye," which he describes as "David Lynch-meets-Jean Paul Gaultier with a little big of Gregg Araki and the scent of Jean Paul Gaultier (that's the cologne I wear)." Incredibly, after watching it that all makes sense! The video is set to a version of the song that's slowed, compliments of J.A.M., which makes for icy synths and dark beats that fit the fireside ritualism and druid sleaze sorta perfectly. I wouldn't say this is NSFW, but we posted it late because, maybe you'll just get less questions if you watch it from home.
Continue reading New Ssion Video - "A Wolves Eye" (Stereogum Premiere)...
Posted at 6:08 PM by amrit in , ,
Tags: Hole | Ssion
latest by Darrren
Syracuse's Barsuk signees Ra Ra Riot recently swarmed their hometown in hopes to find a nice attic to film some songs. Apparently their personal attics weren't big enough, because the troupe, along with directors Taryn Gould and Emily Kowalcyzk, went door to door, knocking and asking, looking for a space that could house a band with their sprawl, finally convincing "a summer student that digs music" to let them set up shop and set some stuff to tape. Watching them fall over themselves to the giddy synth pop of "Too Too Too Fast" reminds me of live sets from similarly sized contemporaries and collectives like Le Loup and Los Campesinos!, except here we get to see it in multi-camera angles. And for free.
Continue reading New Ra Ra Riot Live Video - "Too Too Too Fast"...
Posted at 1:44 PM by amrit in ,
Tags: Ra Ra Riot
latest by robert
August 18, 2008
At their triumphant Lollapalooza headlining set, Wilco debuted new suits and a new tune, "One Wing." Now comes word that a follow-up to the wonderful Sky Blue Sky should be out by spring. Jeff Tweedy offered this progress report to Albany radio station WAMC. Via Billboard:
Tweedy says he expects Wilco will "allow ourselves a little bit more leeway in terms of sculpting the sound in the studio and doing overdubs and using the studio as another instrument. Last time around, it was more of a document."
Tweedy told WAMC he's going through a phase where he "kinda hate[s]" all of Wilco's six prior albums, because "none of them are a statement that I would be comfortable making right now at this point in my life. They all served their purpose, and in that respect I'm proud of all of them.
"But as something that feels artistically in keeping with who I am today, I think that they are inevitably going to fall short of that as time goes on. I mean, they just don't continue to mean the same things to me, and a new record is kind of where it's at."
Video and MP3 of "One Wing" (and another new song) right this way, if you missed it the first time...
Continue reading Wilco LP7 On The Way...
Posted at 2:19 PM by Scott in ,
Tags: Jeff Tweedy | Wilco
latest by jt
