Australian indie/pop/funk/ska/hip hop. Great stuff
Saturday
Friday
Sunday
Surf City - Surf City EP
Fun. What is fun? This is fun. As in, this is really fun music to listen to. Surf City's lyrics are not necessarily decipherable, and this is the best part. Not that the lyrics are bad. But I mean, are you not happy that a song called "Dickshakers Union" is not only listenable, but 1000 times relistenable? This is a quick musical spurt of happy energy and is very much in line with those other gem-like EPs that come out every once in a while like The Little Ones - Sing Song EP and Suckers - Suckers EP...totally full of quirky anthems that cause instantaneous headbobbing. I would call it surfpunk-garage beach psych-pop...except that it's from New Zealand. They have aptly played alongside Surfer Blood at Surf Bar in Brooklyn, NY, a city that is really becoming one of the main vortexes of this new wave of psych music. Buy it at the Amazon link below...and watch for their debut album. No word yet, but passage of time and commensense says soon.
Friday
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Beat The Devil's Tattoo
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's new album Beat The Devil's Tattoo is a good mix of their past styles. They have gone through ups and downs trying to define their sound, with the first two albums B.R.M.C. and Take Me On, On Your Own good examples of darker neo-psychedelic garage rock and shoegaze with some sprinklings of retro punk. Howl drifted into americana and folk/acoustic-tinged blues. Baby 81 was a loud mix of bluesy hits and drone-y ballads. and The Effects of 333 was just plain weird (and I like weird...so that's weird). Their 2010 release is reminiscent of their first two albums (not afraid to douse you with ethereal, chunky, and loud walls of sound) but ties in the intense blues feel they played around with later on. Influences from The Jesus and Mary Chain and also Spacemen 3/Spiritualized can definitely be heard on many of the tracks, especially the longer ones. There are Howl-like footstompers, lots of tambourine, dark reverb-drenched waves of electrocuted guitar licks, and just a good mix of loud and soft. Good music for driving...good neo-psychedelia. Couple of tracks (each a different style that they play well) and video (one of their first hits) below. "War Machine" has a very thick and entrancing heavy sound...turn that one up loud. There are a lot of naysayers of this band. I don't see any nay to say about them; they consistently deliver fresh product, are awesome live, and are from San Francisco, a beautiful place.
Thursday
Deli Special
Every once in a while we will post something weird that we found somewhere or was delivered to us, depending on how you look at it/life. Here's a thing:
Saturday
OK Go - Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky (2010)
OK Go's third album, Of the Blue Colour Of The Sky, was produced by Dave Friddman. Friddman has contributed elements of his "massive, expansive, 3-dimensional surreal beautiful world" (Spin interview) to the music of Mercury Rev, Mogwai, Elf Power, Phantom Planet, Low, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Tapes 'N Tapes, MGMT, Black Moth Super Rainbow, The Flaming Lips (since 1990), and now...OK Go. The sonic difference between this latest album and previous Oh No are heard right off the bat with "WTF?" (video for this track below). This is very dance-y Prince-influenced stuff replete with huge drums, heavy synths and reverb, captivating raspy vocals, and seriously catchy choruses. The album's name, lyrics, concept, and above cover art are based on The Influence of the Blue Ray of the Sunlight and of the Blue Colour of the Sky, a pseudoscientific book published in 1876 that seems to study the relationship between color and theme (one of our goals as well). Read more about it here.OK Go have put out some of the most creative and most watched music videos of modern times, with the treadmill-based "Here It Goes Again" racking up about 50 million views on YouTube. In the above-linked Spin interview, frontman Damian Kulash answers a question I feel many people ask-- Q:"In what way can a music video make a song better or worse?" A: "Oh boy. That's a really good question. I think a video works best when it gives the song an extra dimension as opposed to just illustrating the lyrics. When a video can hurt is when it seems like an advertisement for coolness, or the band, or ideas that are explicit in the song anyway. I'm shocked when people take a sad love song and then do a video that's a narrative treatment of a break-up. Those kinds of videos are almost implying that the song was a failure because it didn't communicate what the song was about. What we want to do with our videos is have a short burst of feeling; to give you a cool little world to live in for three minutes. That's what we're going for."
So again, here is the video for "WTF?" You can watch the pretty hilarious "the making of WTF?" here. A couple of more tracks can be streamed below.
OK Go - This Too Shall Pass
OK Go - White Knuckles
Shout Out Louds
Just released last Tuesday, February 23, 2010 is the Shout Out Louds' brand new album entitled 'Work.'
link
Passion Pit Remix of the Song 'Fall Hard'
+ Shout Out Louds - Fall Hard (Passion Pit's Summer Radio Remix)
Tuesday
Rad Omen - Rad Anthem
Introducing Rad Omen. Broken of secrecy, his true identity is LA's DJ Troublemaker. In his new hit single, 'Rad Anthem,' Rad and the gang take it to the streets for a casual night on the town. The video was directed by Nicholas Goosen (Grandma's Boy). Cameos by Dirt Nasty, Nick Swardson and more.
+ Rad Omen - Rad Anthem
+ Rad Omen - Rad Anthem
Wednesday
Animal Collective - Transverse Temporal Gyrus
Yesterday, Animal Collective announced a new piece called Transverse Temporal Gyrus. It is a collaboration between the ever-progressive Animal Collective and artist Danny Perez that will be a site-specific performance at the Guggenheim for the New York museum's 50th Anniversary. As mentioned on the description page here (where you can also buy tickets starting tomorrow), the piece will transform the museum's rotunda into a kinetic, psychedelic environment.
Here is the purpose of Transverse Temporal Gyrus as described by Animal Collective:
Here is the purpose of Transverse Temporal Gyrus as described by Animal Collective:
"One of the things that you notice almost immediately in the jungle are the birds; so many different sounds coming from so many different directions. Are they communicating to each other? What are they saying? Does each variation serve a purpose? Why are there repetitions? Is there a pattern or is that just your imagination? If you don’t know the first thing about bird songs, these questions can rack a brain for days. The jungle seems louder than most New York apartments but its symbiosis makes it subtler if not more pleasing to foreign ears. The longer you sit awake in bed listening at night, the more you hear...
But as the environments around us change quickly, as people encroach more and more on land where only select symbioses occur, we wonder how this will change the sounds around us and how this alters the way we hear things and react to them. As New Yorkers we are all familiar with the everyday noise around us—the car alarms, the subway trains braking, the music in bars—so familiar that sometimes we drown them out. But then do we not realize how these sounds are affecting us? How they make us feel or act? With this in mind we wanted to create an environment where people could take some time to listen to other kinds of sounds and get away from those familiar sounds of the city. Keeping in mind the birds of the jungle, we’ve created an array of sounds with Animal Collective's music that is seemingly random...or is it? We invite you to come take some time out and sit with us. As time passes it is our hope that you will wonder if you are hearing songs or patterns or maybe simply hearing more. The visual work of Danny Perez has been incorporated to turn the environment of an empty museum into a more mysterious hideaway. The core elements and colors are worked into the piece in order to unite this room of sound with the inside of your brain. We hope you enjoy."
So there you have it...Interesting to note that a transverse temporal gyrus, circled as #41 in the brain map above, is one of two gyri found in the primary auditory cortex on both sides of the brain. It is the first piece of neural tissue to process incoming auditory information. I am close to booking a ticket to this as I would thoroughly enjoy these transverse temporal Gurus and their aural/visual experiment. When you close your eyes, do you still hear? When you cover your ears, do you still see? The answer is yes, but the fact remains that you would experience those senses individually of each other if one was completely absent (unless you have synesthesia). Some sights do not have sounds, and some sounds do not have sights. It will be interesting to see how they have set up the sights and sounds of their creation to communicate with each other because as we know, Animal Collective are capable of unmeasurable creativity. Here is their offical video for Brother Sport:
MGMT - Congratulations
Today, MGMT released the album cover for their sophomore album entitled Congratulations. Instead of predict what the album will sound like (knowing that "It's definitely going to shock people" according to Andrew Vanwyngarden), let's just say it is probably going to be in line with the theme of this website/blog...the celebration of all things psychedelic. There is no question as to their devotion to the genre. Their major label debut, Oracular Spectacular, was recorded with The Flaming Lips' producer Dave Friddman. MGMT contributed to "Worm Mountain" on The Flaming Lips' 2009 album Embryonic. They have opened for/toured with Of Montreal, Asobi Seksu, Radiohead, Chairlift, Paul McCartney, and the list goes on...The upcoming album is co-produced by Pete Kember also known as Sonic Boom, his musical alias associated with bands Spacemen 3 and Spectrum and also a reference to the sound his guitar makes upon liftoff.
Pre-order the album here. Make sure to get the limited edition CD or vinyl LP with scratch-off front cover and custom metal coin. I hope it blows my mind. I have every reason to expect it to. Here are some cool tracks to keep you subdued until further sound exploration on April 13, 2010.
Pre-order the album here. Make sure to get the limited edition CD or vinyl LP with scratch-off front cover and custom metal coin. I hope it blows my mind. I have every reason to expect it to. Here are some cool tracks to keep you subdued until further sound exploration on April 13, 2010.
Kid Cudi - Pursuit Of Happiness feat. MGMT and Ratatat (Sandy Vee Remix)
MGMT - Time To Pretend (High Contrast)
The Flaming Lips - Worm Mountain (Feat MGMT)
Sleepy Sun - Video for New Age
Well, Sleepy Sun most certainly are not very sleepy. As mentioned in a post below, they worked with UNKLE on a track that is coming out on April 6th. Below is an HD video the band made for their track "New Age" off of Embrace. On top of that, here is a link to some in-studio tracks recorded with The Bay Bridged, a leading source of independent music in San Francisco. Sleepy Sun is definitely an evolving band, describing their last album as a snapshot of the songs in their repertoire at that particular time. This makes sense...as the album is incredible, but the Live iTunes Session is just plain otherwordly. As mentioned in the interview at the same link, their second album has been recorded and mastered and will be released by the end of May 2010. They say it is "the soundtrack to a burlesque adaptation of Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea. " I am mucho excite. That is a combination of Spanish and Borat language FYI.
Tuesday
Miike Snow
Miike Snow. Who? Miike Snow. These Swedes are ahead of the curve. With an extensive DJ background, these animals have recently marked their territory around the world. An easy listen with weightless synths and graceful vocals, Miike Snow (the band) are redefining what pop can sound like.
Songs Added to Playlist:
Miike Snow - Miike Snow (2009):
Miike Snow - Song For No One
Miike Snow - Black & Blue
Miike Snow - Cult Logic
Remixes:
Passion Pit - The Reeling (Miike Snow Remix)
Jónsi - Go
Most everything from Iceland is beautiful. Jónsi, lead singer of Sigur Rós, will release his debut album Go in April of this year. Here is a video of "Go Do" that is amazingly Icelandic.
P.S. - If you didn't catch the first and title track on Tiësto's 2009 album Kaleidoscope, you can listen to it below, as it is a long ambient electronic sprawl featuring Jónsi that is very listenable/enjoyable and not dominated by schizophrenic synths at all.
Tiësto - Kaleidoscope (Feat. Jónsi)
Friday
UNKLE - Where Did The Night Fall
UNKLE - Natural Selection (feat. The Black Angels)
Well...this album comes out in May. But an exclusive single was released digitally a couple of days ago. It's available free here and you can stream it below as well. The single is called "Natural Selection" and features vocals and musical contributions from The Black Angels. Less intense/dense than most of The Black Angels' material, UNKLE's track is a chill psychedelectric meshing of their two worlds -- electronica & psychedelic rock -- that seem to be working in tandem these days. Also of note, future plans between The Black Angels and Roky Erickson of The Velvet Underground are currently in the works. Oh yea..some other tracks on UNKLE's upcoming release feature Sleepy Sun, Mark Lanegan, amongst other folks. Can't wait for the Sleepy Sun collaboration.
Wiki - YouTube - Last.fm - HypeM - MySpace - Facebook - Amazon
Wiki - YouTube - Last.fm - HypeM - MySpace - Facebook - Amazon
Tuesday
Solid Gold
A psychedeli-funky-chill pick. Daydreamy jams with relaxing verses. On the contrary, it makes for some great ski music. Also, they will be performing at SXSW in Austin this year, so go check them out if you can.
YouTube - Last.fm - HypeM - MySpace - Facebook - Amazon - Bio
Songs added to playlist:
Bodies of Water (2008)
Solid Gold - Get Over It
Solid Gold - Bible Thumper
Solid Gold - New Kanada
Here is a video:
Thursday
Pop Levi
Deliciously blends bubblegum pop, 60's-ish rocknroll, Robert-Planty vocals, and Of Montreal/Ladytron eccentricity/glam into a psychedelisandwich of sexy eargasms and love ballads. Pop Levi has quite a few releases and videos out that will most likely trip you out whether you choose to let that happen or not. Here are some videos, pics, info, playlist tracks and a psychedelectro remix. Definitely someone to keep an eye on for 2010. Enjoy.Wiki - YouTube - Last.fm - HypeM - MySpace - Facebook - Amazon
Songs added to playlist:
The Return to Form Black Magick Party (2007)
Pop Levi - Blue Honey
Pop Levi - Hades' Lady
Never Never Love (2008)
Dita Dimoné (2008)
Pop Levi - Dita Dimoné (Pink Enemy Mix) <-- the psychedelectro remix
Police $ign/Terrifying (2009)
Pop Levi - Police $ign
Some nice videos...............................
Wednesday
Fujiya & Miyagi
These guys are awesome
Wiki - YouTube
Songs added to playlist:
Transparent Things (2007)Fujiya & Miyagi - Ankle Injuries
Fujiya & Miyagi - Collarbone
Fujiya & Miyagi - Photocopier
Fujiya & Miyagi - Sucker Punch
Light Bulbs (2008)Fujiya & Miyagi - Knickerbocker
Fujiya & Miyagi - Uh
Fujiya & Miyagi - Sore Thumb
Tuesday
Van She
If you haven't already checked these guys out, you should do so now
Wiki - YouTube
Songs added to playlist:
Van She - Changes
Van She - Strangers
Van She - It Could be the Same
Van She - Kelly
Van She - So High
Friday
Ramona Falls - I Say Fever (2009)
Great single from Ramona Fall's debut album Intuit. This is a project by Brent Knopf who is also a member of Menomena, a very artsy rock trio with lots of great music. This video is insane.
