Watch New Girls Video For Girls Highlight “Laura,” Which Is Like a Really Hip, Joyous Version of the Opening to The Brady Bunch…Only With More Tattoos (Maybe; They Rarely Took of Their Shirts on That Show) [NME]
Dancey Portland Band Starfucker (Who, You May Remember, Was Unhappy With Their NSFW Band Name) Changes Name to PYRAMID; Elsewhere (Specifically in North Carolina), There Is Already a Band Called Pyramid [Brooklyn Vegan]
Brooding UK Indie Band Editors Launch Their Own Version of Google Street View, With Specific Locations Playing Songs From Their New Album, In This Light and On This Evening — This Is Probably A Lot Cooler For Someone Even Remotely Familiar With London’s Geography [NME]
Weezer Frontman Rivers Cuomo To Sit Down and Write Songs With Katy Perry Next Week; Possible Results: “I Kissed a God Damn Half-Japanese Girl,” “Only In Ur Dreams,” “Waking Up In The Garage (If You Want To Destroy My Career)” [Pitchfork]
Courtney Love Owes Over $300,000 In Back Taxes, Shuts Down Her Twitter Account – Two Stories Unrelated, As Twitter Is Free Service [Prefix]
New Zealand Innocuously Good Indie Poppers The Ruby Suns Announce New Album; Fight Softly Released March, 2010 [You Ain’t No Picasso]
Stream Bon Iver’s Final Concert; In Other News, Bon Iver’s Hiatus Very Temporary, I Get Bombastic In Attempt to Cause Controversy On Our Website [Radio Milwaukee]
Stream Title Track From Brooklyn’s Acrylics’ Upcoming EP All of the Fire; Produced by Grizzly Bear’s Chris Taylor (And Released on Terrible Records, His Label), EP Released October 28 [Jezebel Music]
Deerhunter’s Bradford Cox To Release Bonus EP With Atlas Sound LP Logos When Ordered From Rough Trade; I Haven’t Looked Into Yet, But Knowing Cox’s Security Practices, EP Probably Leaked Before It Was Even Recorded [Pitchfork]
Guard Arrested For Assaulting a Fan Taking Pictures at House of Blues Chicago; Weirdly, Assault Took Place at Hanson Concert – And What Else Is There To Do When Seeing Hanson, Except Twittering Pictures of Hanson, Still In Disbelief They Have Songs Other Than “Mmmbop” [Idolator]
Baritone California Mope-Folker Mark Everett, AKA Eels, AKA Mr. E, AKA E, To Release Basement Tapes Album; End Times Released January 18 [NME]
compiled by Max Sebela
Stream Shoegaze-y New Panda Bear Track, Performed Live This Weekend At All Tomorrow’s Parties NY (Warning: Recording Is Incredibly Janky, For Lack of a Better Word) [Gorilla vs. Bear]
Watch Kanye West Completely Ruin Taylor Swift’s “Best Female Video” VMA Win, Believes “Single Ladies” Best Video of Decade; Elsewhere, Kanye Apologizes (Sort Of: “I AM VERY HAPPY FOR TAYLOR” Followed By: “I GAVE MY AWARDS TO OUTKAST WHEN THEY DESERVED IT OVER ME”) [Entertainment Weekly]
Stream Death Cab for Cutie Song For Twilight Sequel New Moon, “Meet Me on the Equinox” (MTV Calls It “Perfect” Accompaniment For the Upcoming Film; MTV Correct: It Sucks) [MTV]
Watch Trailer For Documentary On Michael Jackson’s Last Planned Tour, This Is It (From The Look of It, Film Features Less Emotive Footage of Jackson’s Last Days; More Dancing and Pyrotechnics) [Prefix]
Former Rolling Stones Guitarist Mick Taylor Broke As Hell; Meanwhile, Keith Richards Sleeps On Seemingly Bottomless Pile of Gold, Cocaine, and Mickey Mantle Rookie Cards [Prefix]
Jim Carroll, “Basketball Diaries” Author, Punk Frontman of The Jim Carroll Band, Passes Away at 60 [New York Times]
Atlanta Psych-Artists Deerhunter Announce Hiatus “For A Long Time”(Boo-Hiss); Frontman Bradford Cox Releases Atlas Sound LP Logos October 20 [Spinner]
Stream Dutch DJ Tiësto Track “Kaleidoscope” Featuring Sigur Rós Frontman Jónsi Birgisson, Kaleidoscope Released October 20 [Pitchfork]
Stream Toro y Moi Remix of Blog-Loved Washed Out Single “Feel it All Around;” – Not For Those With General Propensity To Feel Sadness/Regularly Tear Up At Brand New’s “Soco Amaretto Lime” [Gorilla vs. Bear]
Ohio Blues Duo The Black Keys Announce Hip-Hop Sideproject Blakroc; Blakroc Released November 27 (And Features Raekwon, Q-Tip, and Mos Def…Stream First Track [NME]
compiled by Max Sebela
Listen to New Built To Spill Track, “Hindsight,” Off Their Upcoming LP (Good To Have You Back, Guys); There Is No Enemy Released October 6 [Pitchfork]
Vivian Girls, Titus Andronicus, and Andrew W.K. Will Be Part of Canadian Punks Fucked Up For One Night…Meanwhile, Here’s A Video of Fucked Up Frontman Pinkeyes Eating Beach Balls [Brooklyn Vegan]
Hear Swedish Pitchfork-Darlings jj Cover Welcome Back Kotter’s Theme Song…If You Don’t, Up You’re Nose With A Rubber Hose [Gorilla vs. Bear]
Listen to “Bangarang,” A Song Composed Of Almost Nothing But Samples From Spielberg Classic Hook – Honestly, This Is The First Contender Pogo Has Had As The Reigning King Of Kids-Movie-Electro [The Daily Swarm]
Hear New Deerhunter Track “Vox Celeste 5” Appearing On A Limited Edition Sub Pop Singles Club…It’s Spacey, Noisy, and Decidedly Cheeful [Hype Machine]
Lady Gaga Self Proclaimed “Hardest-Working Woman In Pop;” Admits To Licking The Cover Of Green Day’s Dookie (Which I’d Believe, Because Her Mouth Reeks Of It) [NME]
Ziggy Stardust and The Endangered Spiders From Malaysia: German Biologist Names New Species of Spider Heteropoda davidbowie. Now We Need Scientists To Name An Iguana Iguanidae agingkeithrichards [Daily Swarm]
compiled by Max Sebela
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah’s Frontman Alec Ounsworth Releases A Surprise Solo Album, Skin and Bones, Buy It Here; Ounsworth’s Solo Debut (Uh, I Guess Not Anymore…Follow-up?) Mo Beauty Released October 20 [Brooklyn Vegan]
Stream New Wavves Song, “Cool Jumper,” Allegedly Featuring Hella’s Drummer Extraordinaire Zach Hill…It’s Six Minutes Long, And, Hate To Admit It, Pretty Cool [Gorilla Vs. Bear]
Stream The Notebook Star Ryan Gosling’s Band Dead Man’s Bones’s New Song “My Body’s A Zombie For You”…Weirdly, That’s Exactly What The Song Is About, And Features A Chorus Of Children Singing About Said Zombies; Dead Man’s Bones Released October 6 [Pitchfork]
MTV Gives Up Times Square Studio, Famous As TRL’s Home – Backstreet Boys Unsure Of Where They’ll Announce Umpteenth Reunion Tour, And Perform A Capella Cover of Some Boyz II Men Song In Front Of Dwindling, School-Cutting Preteens [Idolator]
Stream Justin Vernon’s (Bon Iver) New Project Volcano Choir’s First Song “Island, IS” (This Song Is Proof That Bon Iver Could Record A Dance Album); Volcano Choir’s Debut, Unmap, Released September 22 [Pitchfork]
Dave Grohl, Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme, and Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones’ Them Crooked Vultures Unveil 14 Seconds of Song, “Nobody Loves Me And Neither Do I” [Spin]
The Lower East Side to Tribeca And Now to Williamsburg New York Venue The Knitting Factory Announces Les Savy Fav Will Headline Their Opening Show On September 9; Knitting Factory Also Announces Plan To Get Priced Out In a Few Years, And Be Forced To Move Again [NME]
Popular LA Venue (And Birthplace of No Age and Abe Vigoda) The Smell Announces DVD Live at the Smell; Released September 1 [Pitchfork]
Britpop Giants The Verve Break Up For The Third Time (Which Is Good, Because Without The Verve Making New Music, They Can Be Properly and Exclusively Remembered For This) [Guardian]
Norwegian Electopop Queen Annie’s Second Album Don’t Stop To Finally Be Released October 19, Nearly A Year After It Leaked [Pitchfork]
Deerhunter’s Bradford Cox, AKA Atlas Sound, Releases Fleetwood Mac Cover, “Walk A Thin Line”; Stream It [Deerhunter Blog]
compiled by Max Sebela
Stream/Purchase New Radiohead Song, “Harry Patch (In Memory of);” All Proceeds Go To The Royal British Legion; Song Is a Dedication To The Last Remaining WWI Veteran Harry Patch, Who Passed Away Last Week [Brooklyn Vegan]
This Is Not News, But Music Go Music’s “Warm in the Shadows” Is The Best 9 Minute Disco Revival Track Of The Year Thus Far; Stream It (And Frontwoman Gala Bell Does A Mean Debbie Harry) [Gorilla vs. Bear]
NME Releases List Of 50 Things Pushing Music Forward – Animal Collective Named Number One, Which Means By “Forward,” NME Means “Most Aptly Revives Styles and Techniques Used In 1966” [NME]
Beastie Boys’ Adam Yauch, Better Known As MCA, Is Recovering Well From First Cancer Surgery; Will Undergo Radiation Therapy – With Jay Pushing For Him, MCA’s Got To Feel Pretty Good [Spin]
Jack White To Release Solo Single, “Farm Fly Blues;” Released August 11 [NME]
Foo Fighter Dave Grohl, Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme, and Led Zeppelin’s Bassist John Paul Jones Announce Supergroup, Them Crooked Vultures (Which Couldn’t Be A Better Name Combination of Grunge, Sludge, and Blues, Repsectively) [Spin]
Stream (Allegedly; This Player Hasn’t Worked On Like Four Different Browsers Update: Player Works and EP Is Awesome) New No Age EP Losing Feeling Super Early; Released October 6 [Pitchfork]
Watch Deerhunter, Dan Deacon, and No Age Play Through 10-Minute Deerhunter Noise-Jam “Cryptograms” All Together – It’s Like A Really Filthy Looking Frankenstein of Noise Bands [Pitchfork]
Stream Folkie Guy William Fitzsimmons’s Smokey, Acoustic Cover of Kanye West’s 808s Single “Heartless” (Or, Better Yet, Stream This Version of “Heartless” – You Know 808s Is A Pretty Serious Album, And I Didn’t Realize How Serious It Was Until I Heard It Inappropriately Sung By A Small Army of Preschoolers) [Popmatters]
Stream All of Mount Eerie’s Loud, Abrasive, and Interesting New Album Wind’s Poem; Released August 18 [Stereogum]
by Max Sebela
Psych-Rockers Dr. Dog Signs to ANTI-; Announce Tour, New LP in 2010 [Brooklyn Vegan]
Swedish Twee-Cutie El Perro Del Mar Announces Third Album, Love Is Not Pop; Released October 20 [Brooklyn Vegan]
The Perfect Gift For That Friend Who Has Everything: MC Hammer’s Parachute Pants Are Being Auctioned Off [Idolator]
Echo and the Bunnymen Tour, Announce New Album The Fountain; Released October 12 [NME]
David Byrne Calls Out U2 For The High Cost of Their New Stage…In Their Defense, U2 Really Thought They Were Finally Going To Own Their Own Claw Game, And Just Ran With It [Spin]
Bloc Party’s Kele Okereke Says Bloc Party May Never Record Another Album; After 2008’s Intimacy, I Say Good Call [NME]
Pearl Jam Has Scattered Pieces of Their New Album’s Artwork, Backspacer, Around The Internet; Artwork Not Worth A Scavenger Hunt, Nor Really Worth Viewing [Stereogum]
Bruce Springsteen To Play Entirety of the Legendary Born To Run In Chicago On September 20 – Everyone Way Psyched [Prefix]
Marilyn Manson Threatens To Kill All Music Journalists Who Publish Falsities About Him. In Related News, Marilyn Manson Actually Found To Be Over 4,000 Years Old (I Dare You, Marilyn) [NME]
Deerhunter Frontman Bradford Cox’s Solo Project Atlas Sound Announce Tour With Broadcast; New Atlas Sound LP, Logos, Released October 20 [Stereogum]
compiled by Max Sebela
July 28, 2009
Deerhunter | Rainwater Cassette Exchange
FRESH BAKED
Deerhunter
Rainwater Cassette Exchange
2009 | Kranky
B+
Deerhunter’s high-quality streak continues with Rainwater Cassette Exchange, a bright little EP that serves as a fine afterthought to the band’s excellent 2008 LP, Microcastle. It marks a progression for the band, but Rainwater is also firmly in tow with their other recent efforts, more of a strut into new territory than a dash. But as with Microcastle, the straightening of their ghostly madcap sound, and the trappings of it into pop, remains very rewarding.
For all the quality, there’s not much quantity; even for an EP, Rainwater is brief. None of the tracks overstay their welcome and, seeing as most are hinged on just a few chords, keeping near the two-minute mark is a good idea. Such simplicity may imply stagnation, but this isn’t the case. The band continues to shine within simple confines, with great hooks and melodies, and burn brightly with what has always been their secret weapon – an excellent sense of mood.
More on Deerhunter | Rainwater Cassette Exchange
July 10, 2009
Bradford Cox: New Atlas Sound LP in October, Bitches!
TOP DOG
For those of you who aren’t yet aware, Deerhunter is one the best bands out there; yeah, that isn’t “objective” journalism, but fuck it – they’re great. So when frontman Bradford Cox announces a release by his solo outfit, Atlas Sound, there’s reason to be excited. But there’s even more reason when he reveals that some of the guests on the upcoming Logos include Animal Collective’s Noah Lennox (Panda Bear) and Stereolab’s Laetitia Sadier. This guy must go to some pretty cool parties.
The last Atlas Sound LP, Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See but Cannot Feel, was deeply personal, largely recounting a summer Cox spent in a hospital at age 16 on account of his condition Marfan syndrome. This time around, Cox is feeling more extraverted and freewheeling, stating in the Logos press release that, “The lyrics are not autobiographical…I became bored with introspection…”
Logos had its beginnings around the time Deerhunter’s 2008 release Microcastle was written, and actually got leaked in its early stages, when many of the tracks were, as Cox described, “…simply ‘placeholders’.” The experience left him quite sour, with Cox even considering abandoning the project. Luckily, this is no longer the case, and after throwing around musical ideas with some friends (including those previously mentioned) Cox seems excited about the album, and has even kept a natural feel to the work, stating “Almost everything you hear on the album is a first take. This makes it almost like a ‘live album’ where a band sets up in a studio and just rolls tape. There are songs on here I don’t even remember recording.”
Logos is due out October 20th on Kranky. Tracklist after the jump.
More on Bradford Cox: New Atlas Sound LP in October, Bitches!
