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Yeah Yeah Yeahs It’s Blitz! Tour Won’t Hit Brooklyn [The Tripwire]

The Scoop on Snoop [NYTimes Arts]

Rihanna Tries to Reclaim Rocks [Rolling Stone]

New iPhone Apps Search Blogs [CNET] and Spin Records [Prefix]

Village Voice Siren Fest Still at Coney Island - Initial Lineup Announced [Brooklyn Vegan]

Eminem’s Relapse Track List Leaked [Prefix]

No Age, Deerhunter, and Dan Deacon, Oh My! [Pitchfork]

Decemberists Appear on Colbert Report [Videogum]

Destroyer and Sunset Rubdown Schedule (Separate) NYC Shows [Brooklyn Vegan]

Sonic Youth Summer Tour [Prefix]

Rooftop Films Returns [Brooklyn Vegan]

compiled by Elana Jacobs

FRESH BAKED
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
It’s Blitz!
2009 | Interscope
B

Yes, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs have gone pop. And the people who fell in love with the band on the basis of their cross-eyed, jagged rock will be disappointed that little of their signature cheekiness has made it on this record. By no means, however, does that make the album a disappointment. Following the example of other “weird” rockers such as TV on the Radio (whose David Sitek is one of It’s Blitz!’s producers), the band has made a record with less frays and more structure. So while pop may be a change of pace for the band, with the album’s focus and precision, it never feels like an awkward or half-baked one.

It’s Blitz! is still very much a Yeah Yeah Yeahs record. Eighties synth and drum machines may seem strange for the band, but pop hooks and dance beats have been part of their songs since Fever to Tell. Here, they are merely being taken away from the guitars and put into the hands of the studio. Real instruments do make their way into the mix, but the prominent players on It’s Blitz! are electronics, and it’s evident that every beat, hook and chorus received David Sitek’s characteristic attention to detail. With TV on the Radio’s Dear Science also on his list of productions, Sitek is quickly becoming akin to the Nigel Godrich (Radiohead’s producer) of the States. And what often keeps the popiest parts of It’s Blitz! from becoming too complacent is the density and richness that he has worked into their sound.
More on Yeah Yeah Yeahs | It’s Blitz!

TOP DOG
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ third LP comes out this April on Interscope, titled, It’s Blitz. Fabelhaft! The Yeahs tell Spin.com that Giorgio Moroder inspired them to go Donna Summers on us and you will likely hear synths doing the jobs of guitars. And Karen O still loves to dance, despite rumors that she’s grown up.
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